The Rise of the Master
by Raptor2216
Summary: 9th story of the Worlds Collide Series. In the aftermath of Thanos' defeat, Bucky and his team return to their lives in Star City, as Slade leads his team to track down HYDRA. But when a new player shows up, Bucky will find himself in a new war. Along the way, he must attempt to find out: Who is this Taskmaster, and what does his arrival mean for Star City, and all of Earth-1?
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, guys. Here we go. The third story of Phase 2. I will be writing this at the same time as Fall of Cicada, but this will be much longer than Fall of Cicada.**

**Now, as you can tell from the title and story summary, this is going to feature Earth-1's HYDRA, which will actually feature in one or two more stories throughout this series. It will also feature the true introduction of Taskmaster. Unlike what the MCU is probably going to do with him (and by that, I mean they're probably gonna kill him), Taskmaster will be a reoccurring character in this series. He will eventually turn to the good side, and will fight alongside our heroes during my version of _Crisis on Infinite Earths_. But, that is the only story in which I'll guarantee he'll fight on the side of good. I do hope you like what I do with Taskmaster.**

**Alright. Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 1- A New War

Bucky groans a bit as he grabs the next stack of papers on his desk. He begins going through them, reading them and signing them. This is the main part of being Deputy Mayor he doesn't like. The paperwork.

There's a knock on the door. Bucky glances up just for a second before returning his eyes to the memo he's reading and calling out, "Come in!"

The door opens, and someone walks in. Bucky is paying so much attention to the memo that he doesn't see who it is. That is, until he hears a familiar voice say sarcastically, "Are just gonna ignore me? I thought I meant more to you than that?"

Bucky stops, smiles, then looks up at Laurel. "Of course you are," he says with a smile.

Laurel smiles back at him, then walks around the desk and up to him before leaning down to give him a kiss. After pulling back, she looks down at his desk and asks, "What are you up to?"

"Just getting caught up on all this paperwork," Bucky responds.

"Well, I think you've been working on it for long enough. I think you need a break, and some time with me. So, we are going out to lunch," Laurel says definitively.

"Laurel, I can't. I have to get caught up," Bucky protests half heartedly.

"Too bad. You can get caught up later. For now, we are going out," Laurel says matter of factly, then pulls Bucky to his feet, pulls the paper from his hand, and marches him from the office, with Bucky chuckling to himself.

* * *

(Russia, Caucusus Region)

"Duck!" Slade bellows as bullets fly overhead. He, Roy, Thea, and Nyssa dive for cover.

Peaking out from behind his cover, Slade glances towards the wall of the base, identifying the places that the agents are shooting from. He pulls a pistol from his belt and fires several times, taking out several of the shooters. Nyssa fires an arrow, taking out another. Then, an RPG projectile goes flying right at Slade, forcing him to duck aside to avoid it.

Slade and his team have been on the hunt for HYDRA for almost a month now. They had picked up a lead about two weeks in, a lead that had led them to this small HYDRA base in the Caucusus region of western Russia. However, the base has been well defended. They've been fighting for almost 20 minutes, and have yet to get close to the walls.

"Cover me!" Slade shouts before ducking out and running the other way. Thea, Roy, and Nyssa all jump up, taking off running and firing arrows wildly, trying to draw attention to them.

As they run, Slade dashes from cover to cover, then races towards where several of the shooters are. Before the shooters are able to react, Slade attacks, slicing through them with his sword. Once they're all dead, he picks up two assault rifles and guns down several more. The reduction in fire gives Thea, Roy, and Nyssa the chance to actually aim their arrows, killing the remaining shooters in sight.

Thea, Roy, and Nyssa slowly make their way over to Slade. They all look at each other for a few moments before Thea says, "Well. That took a while."

"Indeed. However, with the opposition we faced outside, with luck, there will be less resistance inside," Slade says.

"Do not trust to luck," Nyssa says.

"Fair statement," Slade replies. He pauses, then says, "We should move into the base. Clear it as fast as we can, and try and find the leader here." The other three nod, and they all move to enter the base.

Thankfully, Slade's thoughts regarding the number of guards held to be somewhat true. It seems that many of the guards had come outside to try and fight off the attackers, leaving fewer guards inside. The four cleave through the guards like a sickle through wheat.

Finally, they reach the bottom floor of the base. As they merge from a stairwell, they see a large set of double doors at the end of the hall.

"50 bucks says the prize is through those doors," Roy says.

"You're on," Nyssa says with a mischievous smirk, draw a chuckle from Roy before the group hurries down the hall.

As they reach the doors, they see a very sophisticated lock on the very heavy set of doors. "Well, this may take a minute to crack," Slade says.

Suddenly, a rustling hits their ear. The four turn around and see a figure hitting the ground about halfway back along the hall. The figure lands on one knee, then rises to their feet. A moment later, the lights all come on, temporarily blinding them.

When their vision clears, they all see the figure, and now can see his features. He's dressed in some kind of suit that is mostly blue and gray, with a bit of orange. The suit looks like a mix of a combat suit and body armor. He's holding a silvery-gray shield with an orange symbol that looks like a T, while in his other hand he's holding a sword. On his back is a bow and quiver of arrows, and several pistols and other weapons, along with some pouches for gear, are attached to his belt. He's wearing a white hood lined with orange, and a mask that looks like a skull.

The four stare at this new arrival, with Thea, Roy, and Nyssa aiming arrows at him, before Slade demands, "Who the h*** are you?"

Chilling laughter fills the hall for a moment before the strange man says, "You can call me…Taskmaster."

"What do you want?" Thea demands.

"To see who's the best. Oh, and to stop you," Taskmaster says.

"We'll see about that," Thea responds before she, Roy, and Nyssa let their arrows fly. Taskmaster dodges the first two with ease, then raises his sword and cuts the third arrow in half lengthwise. The shattered parts of the arrow fly all around him as he slowly lowers his sword.

The team glares at this Taskmaster, and Slade charges at him. Taskmaster chuckles as he twirls his sword and clutches his shield a little tighter. As Slade reaches him, he feints towards Taskmaster's leg before slashing at his head. Taskmaster easily blocks with his sword.

Slade slashes at Taskmaster again and again like a whirlwind. But, to his surprise, Taskmaster easily blocks all of his attacks.

After several moments of this, Slade begins to realize something. Taskmaster isn't just blocking him and striking back. He's doing it the same way as Slade. Within seconds, Slade realizes that Taskmaster is perfectly mimicking his fighter style.

The two cross blades, struggling against each other. As they do, Slade growls, "You're imitating me."

"There's no fighting style I can't master," Taskmaster responds with a smirk before shoving Slade back and jumping up to kick him the chest.

As Slade stumbles back, Nyssa races up, firing arrows as she runs. Taskmaster easily deflects them off his shield, then flips over her head. He slashes at her with his sword, but Nyssa barely manages to block him. She attacks him with both her sword and her free fist, but Taskmaster blocks all her attacks with ease. Within seconds, Nyssa realizes the same thing that Slade did. Taskmaster is perfectly replicating her fighting style.

"Impossible," she says under her breath.

Taskmaster laughs as her kicks her in the leg, then bashes her with his shield. "You should know by now that very little is impossible, Nyssa al Ghul. I am not one of those things," he says as he prepares to drive his sword through her heart.

However, he suddenly jerks back, avoiding getting an arrow in the throat by a centimeter. He whips around right as Thea and Roy attack him.

Thea attacks Taskmaster with her katana, while Roy tries to strike him with his bow. However, with both a sword and a shield, Taskmaster is easily able to fend off their blows, ducking and spinning to avoid getting hit, playing a mixture of offense and defense.

Thea and Roy are surprised at Taskmaster's agility. Then, Taskmaster switches tactics. He leaps over Thea, putting well out of Roy's range, and attacks Thea. Thea fights back, but quickly realizes Taskmaster is fighting just like her.

Roy rushes around Thea to try and attack Taskmaster. However, as he does, Taskmaster flips over him, out of range of Thea and attacks Roy.

Thea and Roy realize that Taskmaster is trying to keep himself locked down to just one opponent so he can use his ability to copy their fighting style without interference or distraction. The two try and spread out a bit so that they can keep Taskmaster from singling one of them out without the other being able to interfere.

However, the two realize quickly this is no simple task. Taskmaster is faster than either of them, easily managing to keep them at bay.

Thea rushes at Taskmaster, but he flips over her, and as he flies over her, kicks her in the back, knocking her into a pillar, dazing her slightly.

Roy growls angrily and rushes at Taskmaster, who chuckles. Roy tries to strike Taskmaster with his bow, but Taskmaster easily deflects it off his shield and slashes at Roy, cutting him a little bit on his arm. Roy growls and attacks Taskmaster again. The two exchange several blows before Taskmaster manages deflect another blow off his shield and kick Roy in the chest. He then leaps forward and stabs Roy in the stomach with his sword.

"NO!" Thea screams.

Nyssa reacts quickly by firing an explosive arrow at Taskmaster. Taskmaster tries to deflect it with his shield, but the explosion knocks him flying back.

"Let's move!" Slade shouts. He races up and grabs Roy. He and Thea race out, with Nyssa covering their retreat by firing arrows at Taskmaster, forcing him onto the defensive.

Eventually, the team is able to get out of the base by stealing a truck from the base. Slade drives several miles away from the base before parking.

He, Thea, and Nyssa quickly get Roy out of the back and lay him down on the ground. The wound is bleeding pretty bad, but Thea and Nyssa have been doing a good job trying to slow it down.

Slade quickly examines the wound. "The blade missed the vital organs. We just need to stop the bleeding," he says.

Nyssa grabs a bag of medical supplies out of the truck. Together, she and Slade work furiously to try and stop the bleeding, while Thea tries to keep Roy calm.

Finally, after several tense minutes, the bleeding begins to slow, and Slade is able to stitch the wound back up.

"Well, you're gonna be out of action for a little while while you heal, but you'll recover," Slade says.

"Thanks, Slade," Roy says in a soft voice.

"But you being out action is the least of our worries," Slade says.

"Indeed. This Taskmaster. He was not just highly trained. He has been enhanced. I know it," Nyssa says.

"I agree. He was able to copy our fighting styles perfectly. That couldn't have been something he trained himself to do. And that just makes him all the more dangerous," Slade says.

"So, what do we do?" Thea asks.

There is quiet for a few moments before Slade says, "We need backup. I think we need to head back to Star City."

* * *

**And, I'll end there.**

**I hope you liked this chapter, and my introduction of Taskmaster. I'm not quite sure I did Taskmaster's skills complete justice, but I tried my best.**

**For those wondering about Taskmaster's appearance, I imagine his suit to be pretty much identical to what his suit looks like in the concept art image for the Black Widow movie, except for his mask looking a bit more skull-like. He also has more weapons than he does in that concept art image.**

**I don't have anything else to add right now, so I'll just say: Please leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	2. Chapter 2- Trouble

**Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.**

**I hadn't intended to post this until later this week. But, with the stress of school, I wanted to write this. Also, I wanted to get something off my chest and make an announcement regarding this series.**

**So, I'm sorry to you all (except one person), but as of today, I have officially decided that in this series, including my version of _Crisis on Infinite Earths_, _Smallville_ will no longer be appearing. If the _Smallville_ characters that show up in the Arrowverse's _Crisis on Infinite Earths_ make a huge contribution, and the showriters do great stuff with them, then I may reconsider it and include _Smallville_ characters a bit. But, for now, _Smallville_ will no longer be appearing in this series. Everyone else showing up in the Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths will be appearing in my version of it, except _Smallville_ characters.**

**For those wondering why, the reason is very simple. As some of you have seen already, a certain guest reviewer named Coolrod has been harassing me since I first started this series, demanding I include _Smallville_ in this series. Despite the fact I have told him multiple times it doesn't work yet with my plans, and that I haven't ever even seen _Smallville_, and know next to nothing about it except that it's about Superman and has Oliver Queen as a character in later seasons, Coolrod has continued to harass me. Because of that, I have made this decision, as I'm sick of it.**

**Now, Coolrod, if you're reading this, let me say this to you: You're obsessed with _Smallville_. I get it. You've made that perfectly clear. What you don't seem capable of getting through your thick head is that if I choose to write fanfiction about the Arrowverse but not about _Smallville_ doesn't mean I hate _Smallville_. It just means I love the Arrowverse, and I've never watched an episode of _Smallville_ in my life. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know _Smallville_ existed until about a year ago, and I've been watching the Arrowverse from the beginning. I don't hate _Smallville_. Honestly, I want to check it out now that it's been confirmed to crossover with the Arrowverse. That doesn't mean I have to include it in this series. Just because you're obsessed with _Smallville_ doesn't mean the rest of us need to be, and it doesn't mean that I have to cave to your every desires and rework my plans for this series (which I've already almost finalized) just to include _Smallville_. My writing a series about the Arrowverse doesn't mean I'm obsessed with it. I don't go around harassing anybody who doesn't write Arrowverse stories. Also, to address one of your reviews, this "obsession" with Barry and Wanda is simply a pairing, and since Flash is my favorite Arrowverse show, I think it's fair I focus on them a bit more than other couples.**

**And you know what, Coolrod? You reviewed _Worlds Collide, Heroes Unite_, and said you were gonna stop reading because you couldn't stand the fact it didn't have _Smallville_ in it. And yet, I've gotten multiple reviews to that story from you since that first one. And you've retaliated against people who have tried to defend me against you, so you've clearly been watching the reviews on my story. So clearly, you never intended to follow through with that threat. Rather, it seems you've decided I'm your enemy for not including _Smallville_ in this series, and have been following my stories simply to harass me and throw abuses at me because I haven't included _Smallville_ yet. I've already told you I originally intended to include them in Crisis on Infinite Earths. I have been rather polite to you so far. But your obsession wouldn't let the fact I wasn't including _Smallville_ go, and you have repeatedly antagonized and ridiculed me because I won't do what you want. Guess what? You're not the king of . If you want your own _Smallville_ stories, go write them. It's not that hard to make an account. Stop harassing other authors just because they won't conform to your every whim. If you had just left a single request to include _Smallville_, I definitely would've included them in my _Crisis on Infinite Earths_, and probably would have written other stories in this series including them. But, you couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? Well, guess what? Now you're not getting it at all. I hope you're happy. If you'd just learned some patience and how to accept that other people have different opinions than you, then I wouldn't have made this decision. I know lots of people are going to be disappointed, but I refuse to just allow people like you to harass and antagonize me like this. You still have a slight chance of _Smallville_ appearing in my _Crisis on Infinite Earths_ if the actual crossover does a good job with them. But if I get one more antagonistic review from you about _Smallville_, then I won't include _Smallville_, no matter what.**

**I apologize to everybody for that long rant. But I needed to get that off my chest, and as Coolrod is just a guest, this was the only way to get this message across to him. I'm sorry to all you patient _Smallville_ fans who wanted me to include _Smallville_, but I'm not gonna take this crap from Coolrod anymore.**

**Alright. Let's get to the chapter. Also, quick note. In response to a guest review with a great alternative title for this story, I have followed his advice, and am renaming this from_ The Rise of HYDRA_ to _The Rise of the Master_. To whoever left that review, thank you for the suggestion.**

**Green Hal37**: Yes, it's been a month since Thanos was defeated. Also, the Earth-1 Winter Soldier was Bucky's doppelganger, and he is dead.

**mmat**: There will be multiple stories including Oliver and Natasha. And yes, Oliver will be reunited with William at some point.

**Arrowverse Fan 217**: For your first question, see the line above. I'm open to a Hulk/King Shark story, but don't have a plan for one at the moment. And the final story will be Crisis on Infinite Earths.

* * *

Chapter 2- Trouble

As midnight approaches in Star City, in a small alley in the Glades, a small group of drug dealers are having a meeting. Their business had been struggling a bit since they got brought back in what has become known to some as "The Blip". However, they're finally starting to get their business running again.

"How'd we do this last week?" one of the leaders of the group asks.

"We had double the sales this last week than the week before. Things are really starting to look up for us," one of the other guys says in response.

"Good. And with our newest shipment coming in this week, I'd say we're gonna start raking in the big bucks pretty quick," another guy says.

There are a series of chuckles among the drug dealers. Then, suddenly, there's a the sound of a gunshot, and one of the drug dealers drops to the ground, a tranquilizer dart in his back.

The drug dealers stare down at him. Then, they see something falling to the ground ahead of them. They look up to see the Winter Soldier and Spartan standing in front of them.

"Hello, gentlemen," Winter Soldier says with a smirk before both and Spartan raise their guns and fire tranquilizer darts.

Two more drug dealers collapse before the other drug dealers scatter in panic. With slights smirks on their faces, Winter Soldier and Spartan chase after them. The dealers don't even make it to the end of the alley before the two vigilantes catch up to them. In a quick flurry of blows, both the Winter Soldier and Spartan knock out the rest of the drug dealers.

The two stand over the unconscious bodies of the drug dealers before turning towards each other. "Well, that was easy," Spartan says.

"Agreed. Let's alert the ACU and get back to the bunker," the Winter Soldier responds. The two then turn and disappear into the night.

* * *

(The bunker)

Bucky and Diggle smile as they make their way down to the bunker in the elevator, removing their masks.

"Well. Tonight was easy. I can't remember the last time our work was so easy," Diggle says.

"I know. It almost seems like criminals in this city have lost their nerve a bit," Bucky responds.

"Well, after we closeup for the night, why don't we go grab a drink?" Diggle asks.

"Can't. Laurel's waiting for me back at our apartment," Bucky says apologetically.

"Ah, yes. Can't keep her waiting," Diggle says with a smirk.

Bucky chuckles a bit as the elevator doors open. But, as they walk in the bunker, they all stop. In the medical corner, Slade, Nyssa, and Thea are all gathered around a table where Roy is lying.

"Guys! What happened to Roy?" Diggle exclaims.

"He got stabbed during an attack we made on a HYDRA base. He's stabilized for now. He just needs time to rest and recover before he can return to combat," Slade responds.

Bucky and Diggle make their way over to them, taking a moment to examine Roy before turning to Slade and Nyssa, as Thea is still sitting beside Roy, holding his hand.

"What exactly happened?" Bucky asks.

"Well, after weeks of searching, we found a HYDRA base in western Russia," Slade begins.

"We launched an attack against the base. The guards fought back heavily, but we eventually killed them all. However, when we entered the base in order to clear it and find any intelligence we could, we were attacked," Nyssa continues.

"Attacked by who?" Diggle asks.

"We're still not entirely sure. But he called himself Taskmaster. He wore some kind of blue, white, and orange suit. He wore a white hood, and a mask in the shape of a skull. He carried a shield, and was armed with a sword, a bow, guns, and other weapons. But that's not what concerns us," Slade explains.

"What do you mean?" Bucky asks.

"When I attacked him, he fended me off with ease. But after a few seconds, I realized he was fighting exactly like me," Slade explains.

"So, you think this guy may be ex-ASIS too?" Diggle asks.

"No. It was beyond that. Even my partner, Billy Wintergreen, fought slightly different than me despite going through the same training. What I'm saying is that Taskmaster copied my fighting style perfectly," Slade says.

"And when I engaged him, he immediately copied my fighting style as well. He did the same thing when Thea and Roy engaged him. He fended all of us off and wounded Roy," Nyssa explains.

Diggle and Bucky look at each other in surprise, then back at Slade and Nyssa. "So, he can copy people's fighting styles?" Bucky asks.

"It seems so. Add that to his great strength and incredible reflexes, and it is clear to me that this Taskmaster has probably been enhanced in some way. The fact he seems to be working for HYDRA is highly disconcerting," Slade says.

"Agreed. I think our first step from this point on is trying to figure out who this Taskmaster is," Bucky says.

"I don't know why, but I've got a really bad feeling about this," Diggle says.

* * *

(Lian Yu)

Viper turns over as she tries to get comfortable. Her prison cell on Lian Yu is incredibly uncomfortable, and it always takes her forever to get to sleep.

Suddenly, without warning, the door into the prison is blown off it hinges. The guard on duty turns to the door, but is shot down before he can react.

Viper sits up, looking to the door. A moment later, Taskmaster walks into the prison. He looks right at Viper, not saying anything.

"Who are you?" Viper asks.

"You can call me Taskmaster," Taskmaster responds. He bends down and takes the keys from the dead guard, then steps forward and unlocks Viper's cell.

"Come with me, Viper. Baron Strucker has need of your services," Taskmaster says. Viper sits there for a second, then starts to smile. She stands up from her bunk, and follows Taskmaster out of the prison.

* * *

**And, I'll end there.**

**I hope you like this chapter. I know it didn't have a lot of action, but I hope it was good nonetheless.**

**So, Bucky and the team now know about Taskmaster. And Taskmaster has freed Viper. And yes, Baron Strucker exists in this universe. In this, he'll be closer to his comics version than what we saw in the MCU. You'll start to see why he's significant soon enough.**

**Next chapter should be up within a week. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	3. Chapter 3- Telling Laurel

**Alright, everybody. I'm back with another chapter. I'm sorry for taking so long, but I've had one or two midterms a week for the last three weeks, with a couple papers interspersed. I just haven't had as much time to write. I'll try and be better about writing from hereon out.**

**This chapter is gonna be shorter, and is mostly gonna be a filler chapter. I hope it's not too bad though.**

**Let's get to it.**

**UltraPhantom**: We've got a long way to go before broaching that possibility.

**Aragorn II Elessar**: He will have the Satan Claw, but it may be slightly different than the comics version. And yeah, I know its disappointing I'm not including Smallville, but I have to draw the line. Plus, it's starting to sound like Smallville won't even be playing that big of a role anyways, so I'm no longer really worried about working around my decision.

**AntBoy1**: My current plan is for Batwoman not to show up until I do Elseworlds, which will be in the MACU's Phase 4. I may alter that plan and have her show up earlier, but I can guarantee she won't be in Phase 2 no matter what. I will promise she won't just be showing up in my Elseworlds and Crisis stories, though. She'll be in at last one other story in Phase 4.

**Guest**: Not sure what I'm going to do in this with regards to Jane Foster's Thor.

**mmat**: Crisis on Earth-X will be the fourth story of Phase 2.

* * *

Chapter 3- Telling Laurel

Bucky watches as Diggle finishes up the last stitch on Roy's wound.

"Well, Roy. I'm impressed. You certainly have a resilience about you," Bucky says. Roy smiles a bit, but stops himself from chuckling.

"Well, Roy. You're definitely going to have a scar. And I don't recommend you try and get involved in any action for the next month or so. But other than that, I think you'll make a full recovery," Diggle says.

"Alright," Roy says, with clear disappointment in his voice.

"You guys rest up here tonight. I have some business I have attend to at City Hall, and then I'm meeting Laurel for a late dinner. But I'll see you all tomorrow," Bucky says. He then turns and walks out of the bunker.

"You really think this Taskmaster is that dangerous?" Diggle asks as he looks to Slade.

"I don't think you'd really understand until you fight him. I only fought him briefly, and I could already tell he is more dangerous than you'd think. Perhaps even more dangerous than Ra's al Ghul," Slade responds. Diggle just looks at him grimly.

* * *

(Bucky's apartment)

Bucky sighs a bit as he walks into the apartment. After leaving, he had to go back to City Hall to finish a few papers that needed to be on Quentin's desk by the next morning. Now, it's finally time to call it a day.

As he walks in, Laurel stands up from where she was setting a dish of mashed potatoes down on the table. She smiles brightly at her boyfriend and says, "Hey. How was your day?"

"Busy. I had a lot of work at the office, and then me and Diggle took down one of the drug rings in the Glades," Bucky responds.

Laurel gives him a sly smile. "Well, maybe I can help you unwind a bit later," she says as she walks up to him. She then plants a kiss on his lips before saying, "But, first, we have a nice meal I made us, and I don't want it to go to waste, especially after all the time I've put in really learning how to cook."

Bucky smiles and says, "Well, we definitely don't want it to spoil, do we?" He then follows Laurel to the table and they sit down and start eating.

After a few minutes, Laurel looks up from her plate and just stares at Bucky for a moment. He's been rather quiet, and she can tell something is on his mind.

"Babe? What's bothering you?" Laurel asks.

Bucky looks up at her, then sighs a bit. "When Dig and I got back to the bunker, we found Slade, Nyssa, Thea, and Roy waiting for us, and Roy had a really bad wound in his stomach. Slade and Nyssa explained that they had found a HYDRA facility in Russia. In the Caucusus. When they attacked it, they had almost cleared the whole place, when they were attacked by somebody. He wore this strange uniform, and he had all kinds of weapons. A shield. A sword. A bow. And guns. He called himself Taskmaster," Bucky explains.

"Taskmaster? What kind of name is that?" Laurel asks.

"Don't know. But, apparently, when Slade attacked him, this guy not only held off Slade. He copied Slade," Bucky says.

"What do you mean?" Laurel asks.

"What I mean is that this Taskmaster perfectly copied Slade's fighting style. And it wasn't just him. When the guy knocked Slade back, and Nyssa jumped forward to fight him, this Taskmaster immediately copied her fighting style. He did the same with Thea and Roy. Whoever he is, they think he has the ability to copy the fighting style of anybody he encounters. Not only that, but he's incredibly skilled and strong already. Slade said he thought this Taskmaster could be as dangerous as Ra's al Ghul himself. And the fact he seems to be working for HYDRA makes it even worse," Bucky says.

Laurel is quiet for several moments. Then, she says, "Well. Then that just means we need to find a way to take him out. Together, we've handled some pretty dangerous people. We can handle him to. Together, there's nothing we can't handle." She finishes with a confident smile.

Bucky smiles at her. "I love you. You know that, right?"

Laurel smiles back at him. "I do," she says. She then pauses for a moment before saying, "Why don't you go talk to Lyla tomorrow? See if ARGUS has anything on this Taskmaster?"

"I was just thinking that. And I think it's a great idea," Bucky says.

Laurel smiles, then says, "Come on. Put Taskmaster out of your head for now, and let's have a nice evening," she says.

Bucky smiles and laughs a little bit. He sure picked an amazing woman for his girlfriend.

* * *

**And, I'll end there. I know, short, but like I said, this is mainly a filler chapter.**

**Next chapter, things will start to get a bit more exciting, hopefully. I hope you're excited for it.**

**Also, just a little note. I have another story I've resumed work on, called Final Countdown: World at War. It's my own spin on the movie Final Countdown, where the aircraft carrier Nimitz in 1980 got sent back in time to the day before Pearl Harbor. In my story, the Nimitz, along with the USS Missouri after her 1980s modernization, get sent back to December 6, 1941, and end up fighting in the Pacific War. Go check it out. I'm really excited about it.**

**Alright. Next chapter should be up within a week. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	4. Chapter 4- Escapee

**Hey, guys Back with another chapter. This one should be a bit better. Hope you like it.**

**Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 4- Escapee

Bucky slows the car down and parks in front of the ARGUS facility. He shuts the car off and climbs out, with Diggle climbing out of the passenger seat and Slade climbing out of the back.

"You really think it was a good idea to bring me along?" Slade asks.

"Don't worry, Slade. We'll make sure you don't get shot or arrested," Bucky says nonchalantly.

The three walk through the front doors of the ARGUS base. Just inside the doors, Lyla is waiting for them.

"Honey," she says with a smile directed at Diggle. She then looks at Bucky and says, "Good to see you again, Bucky."

"You as well, Lyla," Bucky responds.

Lyla then looks at Slade. She's quiet for a moment before saying simply, "Mr. Wilson."

"Director Michaels," Slade says respectfully.

Lyla then looks at Bucky and says, "Well, you were kind of cryptic in your message, Bucky. What exactly is it that you need again?"

Bucky gestures to Slade, who steps forward. "After we got back from Earth-99, I took my team to hunt down HYDRA. Less than a week ago, we attacked a HYDRA base in the Caucusus region in Russia. While we were there, we were attacked by somebody. He called himself Taskmaster," Slade explains.

At the mention of the name Taskmaster, Lyla's expression changes, and Bucky spots it immediately. "Based on your expression just now, I'd wager that you happen to know something about him," Bucky says.

"Yeah, you could say that," Lyla says before motioning for them to follow her.

Lyla leads them down a nearby hallway and into an office. She then motions for them to sit down before taking a seat herself.

"So, yeah, we know about Taskmaster. We've had him on our radar since mid-2017. We have no idea where he came from, or who he is under his mask. We've only had occasional sighting of him since he first showed up, but he's on our list of most wanted," Lyla explains.

"Why is that?" Diggle asks.

"A couple reasons. He had a run in with some of our agents a few months before the Decimation. And during that fight, according to the one agent who survived, he was able to perfectly mimic their fighting styles. Add that to the fact he's got League of Assassins level fighting skill already, he's an incredibly dangerous man. But, there's also something else we found out about him. Unlike what you probably think, we don't think he works for HYDRA. He's been seen cooperating with various organizations. So, we think he's a mercenary," Lyla explains.

"You've know about him for two years?" Bucky asks.

"Yes. We've tried to find out more about him, but he literally just seems to have popped out of nowhere," Lyla explains.

"Have you had any prior signs of him cooperating with HYDRA?" Bucky asks.

"We have, actually. There was a sighting about 6 month after the Decimation, and he was confirmed to be in company of HYDRA agents at the time. So, he's been working with them for at least 6 months," Lyla explains.

"Great," Diggle sighs.

"What are you intending to do?" Lyla asks.

"Normally, I'd leave this to you guys. But, he hurt and nearly killed Roy. This is personal now. We're going after him and HYDRA," Bucky says firmly.

"Well, if you're going to do that, I have an idea of somewhere you can go to find out some information," Lyla says.

"And where is that?" Bucky asks.

Lyla starts to smirk. "Well, I don't know. If only we had a high ranking HYDRA official in ARGUS custody somewhere," she says sarcastically.

It takes a moment for Bucky to register it, and then he starts to smile. "Almost forgot about Viper. Any chance you could rustle up a plane to take us to Lian Yu?" he says.

"No problem. I can have one ready within two hours," Lyla responds.

* * *

(Many hours later, North China Sea)

"Sir, we're five minutes out from Lian Yu," the ARGUS C-130 pilot calls back from the cockpit.

"Thank you, pilot," Bucky responds calmly. Beside him, Diggle and Slade are waiting impatiently.

"What do you think? Think Viper's gonna talk? Think she even knows anything about Taskmaster or what HYDRA's up to?" Diggle asks.

"I don't know. But she's the best chance we have at getting some viable intelligence that could help us track down Taskmaster," Bucky responds.

"Well, from what Lyla told me, HYDRA agents are the ones to willingly share information like this. Honestly, after what she told me, I'm surprised we were able to take Viper alive in the first place," Diggle says.

"Sir! We're landing now!" the pilot calls out a minute later. Within another minute, the C-130 touches down. As soon as the pilot shuts down the engines, the back ramp lowers, and the three walk out of the plane.

"We know our way there. No need to accompany us," Bucky says to the two ARGUS agents that were in the back of the plane with them.

The three make their way through the trees towards the spot of ARGUS' prison. It's only a brief 15 minute walk to the beach.

As they get onto the beach, Slade mutters, "I never thought I'd be back here."

"Don't worry, Slade. We're not here to throw you back in prison," Bucky says with a chuckle. Slade can't help but chuckle himself a bit.

Diggle steps forward and unlocks the door leading down into the prison. He climbs down the ladder first. Then, as Bucky is about to follow him, Diggle calls up after him, "Uhh, Bucky, we got a problem."

Within two seconds, Bucky is down in the prison, with Slade right behind him. As Bucky looks into the prison, his heart drops. Viper's cell is completely empty, with the red symbol of HYDRA painted on the wall of her cell.

There's quiet for a moment before Slade pipes up and says, "I'd be willing to bet almost anything that Taskmaster broke her out."

"We don't have any proof it was Taskmaster himself that did it, but I wouldn't be surprised. Still, this at least confirms that Viper hasn't cut all ties with HYDRA like we thought," Bucky says.

The three stand there in silence for a moment before Bucky pulls out his cell phone and calls up Lyla. After a few rings, she picks up. "Hey, Bucky. Did you get anything from Viper?"

"Nada. Because Viper isn't even here," Bucky responds.

"What?!" Lyla exclaims over the phone.

"Yeah. Viper's cell is empty, and the symbol of HYDRA is painted on the wall of her cell. HYDRA, and maybe Taskmaster himself, broke her out. And not too long ago, I think. We need to find her, and Taskmaster," Bucky responds.

"Alright. I'm making the hunt for HYDRA and Taskmaster ARGUS' top priority. Anything we find out, you'll be told as soon as I am," Lyla responds.

"Thanks, Lyla," Bucky says before hanging up. He then turns to Diggle and Slade and says, "Let's get out of here. We've got some hunting to do."

* * *

(Unknown location)

Viper follows Taskmaster as they walk down the hall of the facility. She still doesn't fully know what's going on, as Taskmaster has not shared much with her.

Taskmaster walks up to a set of double doors and throws them open, leading Viper into the room beyond. The room is full of HYDRA agents. And standing at a table, looking over a map, is an older man in a green uniform, with some kind of red attachment on his arm.

"Baron Strucker," Taskmaster calls to the man. Strucker looks up, spots Viper, and smiles.

"Excellent work, Taskmaster. My faith in you is rewarded once again. And Viper. It is so good to see you again," Strucker says.

Viper bows to Strucker. "Why have you called on me, Baron?" she asks.

"Because. The time has come," Strucker says in a tone that leaves no doubt in Viper's mind what he means. She begins to smile. She's been waiting for this for too long.

* * *

**And, I'll end there. I hope you liked this chapter. Next one should be up soon. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5- Hail HYDRA!

**Hey, guys. Back with another chapter. Hope you like this one. It's not gonna be super exciting, but it will be important to the overall storyline.**

* * *

Chapter 5- Hail Hydra!

Laurel sighs a bit as she enters the bunker. Bucky, Diggle, and Slade have been gone for almost 24 hours, and the team hasn't heard from them yet about what they've found.

"Anything?" she asks as she walks in.

Felicity sighs and says impatiently, "The answer hasn't changed since your 5 phone calls asking that question. If we hear from them, I will tell you."

Laurel rolls her eyes before heading over to the punching bags and start doing a little workout.

* * *

(Downtown, Starling General Hospital)

It's a rather calm night at Starling General. Not many new patients have been coming in.

A Ford F-150 pulls up to the emergency room entrance. As it parks, the driver leaps out of the driver's side door and races away from the truck.

An attendant hurries out of the emergency room, and calls after the driver, "Sir!"

But the driver doesn't stop. He keeps running until he's put almost 70 yards between him and the truck. Then, he turns back to face his truck and smiles as he pulls out a small device.

"Hail HYDRA," he says with a grin before pressing a button on the device. And immediately, the bomb in the back of his truck explodes, killing the attendant and everybody in the emergency room waiting room. What's left of the emergency room starts burning and collapsing.

* * *

(The bunker)

As Laurel throws punch after punch, an alarm suddenly starts sounding. Laurel stops and turns to face Felicity.

"What's that?" Laurel asks as Felicity is typing furiously.

A moment later, Felicity responds, "There was an explosion at Starling General! I'm pulling up security camera footage."

Laurel hurries up beside Felicity as the footage from the cameras comes up. The two examine footage from multiple cameras before they find one with a clear view of the entrance to the emergency room. And they watch as the truck pulls up, the driver runs away, and the truck blows up.

"Track that guy, Felicity! I'm going," Laurel says as she races towards where her suit is hanging.

"I will accompany you," Nyssa says, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Laurel just nods as she suits up.

* * *

(Downtown Star City)

Laurel and Nyssa race through the streets on their motorcycles. As they pass a large semi truck, Laurel calls over comms, "Felicity, are you still tracking him?"

"Yeah, he's just about 4 blocks directly ahead of you," Felicity answers anxiously.

Laurel guns her motorcycle and speeds down the street, following Felicity's direction, with Nyssa right behind her.

A minute later, Felicity comes back on comms and says, "Guys! He just turned off the street and ran into a park about a block and a half ahead of you! It'll be on your right!"

"Copy!" Laurel responds.

Sure enough, just a mile and a half ahead, they see the park off to their right and pull into it. Looking around, Laurel sees the guy booking it for the trees at the other end of the park. Laurel and Nyssa gun their motorcycles and speed after him.

Being on motorcycles, the two quickly overtake the man. As she gets close, Nyssa takes her hands off the steering, draws an arrow, and fires it. The arrow slices across the side of the man's leg, causing him to stumble.

Laurel speeds up to him and leaps off her motorcycle. The man gets back to his feet and spins around to face her and draws his gun. But, before he can properly aim the gun, Laurel unleashes her scream, knocking him flying back.

The man recovers rather quickly and gets back to his feet. Again, he aims his gun, but this time Nyssa leaps forward and cuts the gun in half with her sword. She then aims to stab him in the chest, but the man dodges out of the way of the sword.

The man and Nyssa exchange several blows, and Nyssa is surprised by the skill the man displays. However, within a few moments, she manages to cut him on the leg. As the man stumbles back, she then slashes at his right hand and cuts it off.

The man cries out in pain. But, before he can do anything, Laurel again lets out her scream, sending him flying back into a tree.

The man tries to get back to his feet, but Laurel rushes forward and grabs him by his collar, slamming him up against the tree. "Who are you?" she demands.

"But a follower," he says.

"Why did you bomb the hospital?" she demands angrily.

The man laughs and says, "You do not realize what is coming. You cannot stop it. And you will all fall." Then, he opens his mouth, and they can see one of his rear teeth broken in two. Laurel realizes what's going on a little too late, as the man crunches the pill in his fake tooth. He smirks at Laurel as the foam begins to from at his mouth, and says, "Hail HYDRA." A second later, he takes his last breath.

Laurel stands there in silence for a moment before she releases the man, and he falls to the ground.

Laurel and Nyssa sit there in silence before Laurel says, "Well. Looks like HYDRA has come to Star City."

"This is concerning. HYDRA does not just conduct random bombings like other terrorist groups. There is a reason for them conducting a bombing like this. And I feel very concerned as to what this bombing is about," Nyssa says.

"I agree," Laurel says. They stand there for a moment before Laurel says, "Let's take this guy back to the bunker. Maybe we can gain some intel from his effects, and understand what poison he used to off himself."

Then, Laurel gets on comms and says, "Felicity. The guy who bombed the hospital was a HYDRA agent, and he killed himself with a pill hidden in his teeth. I need you to contact Bucky and the others. They need to know that HYDRA has come to Star City."

* * *

**And, I'll end there.**

**So, HYDRA has come to Star City. And yes, this bombing had a very specific purpose. You'll find out what that is later.**

**I hope you liked this chapter. Next chapter will be up soon enough. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	6. Chapter 6- Assault on Star City

**Hey, guys. Back with another chapter.**

**So, first off, I hope you all noticed that the first Black Widow trailer has dropped, and it looks like its going to be a great movie, although I wish Taskmaster looked a bit more like he does in the comics (Mine looks much more like the one from the comics. Imagine the kind of suit he was wearing in the trailer, but in his comics color scheme, and with a hood). I may do something like it at some point in the MACU, but Taskmaster may not be involved. And I will guarantee my Taskmaster is probably going to be much different than the MCU's Taskmaster.**

**Let's get to the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 6- Assault on Star City

"So, have we made any progress on investigating that bombing at the hospital?" Bucky asks as he walks into the bunker. He, Diggle, and Slade returned to Star City two days ago, and ever since then, the team had been throwing everything they had into investigating the bombing and its connection to HYDRA, as well as why HYDRA bombed the hospital in the first place.

"No. Nothing. HYDRA hasn't shown their face since the bombing, and I'm at a loss as to why they bombed the hospital. Right now, it just seems like a random target. I can't find a reason why it was targeted," Felicity says.

"Well, there has to be a reason. We need to keep pushing," Bucky says as he turns and walks over to the training area.

"You seem a little tense, Bucky," Diggle says.

"I don't get it, Diggle. What is HYDRA's goal here? Why would they attack Star City? How does it have relevance to their plans, whatever they are?" Bucky mutters.

"I don't know, man. But whatever it is, we'll find it out. We always do," Diggle says.

Bucky nods, then throws a punch at Diggle. Diggle dodges, and the two start sparring.

* * *

(Warehouse, edge of Star City)

In an abandoned warehouse, well out of the way of the public, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker smiles as he looks out at the assembled HYDRA agents.

"The next phase has begun. We will bring this city to its knees, and finally, the Winter Soldier shall return to us. Now, go, do your duty, and bring about the world we desire. Hail HYDRA!" Strucker says.

"Hail HYDRA!" the men all shout before they leave the warehouse.

* * *

(Twenty minutes later, the bunker)

Diggle grunts as he is thrown onto his back. Again. He looks up and scowls a bit at Bucky, who is just smirking at him.

"Sorry, Diggle. I'm just better than you," Bucky says.

"I'll beat you one of these days," Diggle responds.

"Sure. You keep telling yourself that," Bucky says teasingly before helping Diggle back to his feet.

As Diggle gets back on his feet, an alarm suddenly goes off. Bucky and Diggle both turn towards Felicity, who is typing furiously.

"Felicity! What's going on?" he demands.

"There are reports coming in of armed men attacking the city, coming in from Giordano Tunnel," Felicity answers a second later.

"HYDRA," Bucky says in a very low voice. He then turns to Diggle and says, "This is all hands on deck. Call everybody. We need to get out there."

* * *

(Giordano Tunnel)

People race away from the Giordano Tunnel, screaming as they try to avoid the flying bullets. Officers from SCPD, some in riot gear, have arrived to try and hold off the attacking HYDRA agents, but the officers are quickly being overwhelmed. Some of the HYDRA agents press their attack against them, while others fire into the crowd, gunning down anyone within range.

Now just a few blocks away, Bucky speeds towards the site on his motorcycle, with Laurel, Rene, Diggle, Thea, Nyssa, and Slade all following behind him.

"Alright, everyone. This is an all out kill mission. You show these guys no mercy," Bucky says over comms.

"Copy that," Diggle responds.

A few minutes later, the team pulls into view of the battle up ahead. Bucky stops his motorcycle and leaps off, swinging his assault rifle off his back.

"Attack!" Bucky orders as he charges towards the HYDRA agents. The rest of the team jumps off their motorcycle, draw their weapons, and follow Bucky into battle.

As soon as Bucky is in range, he raises his assault rifle and fires into the ranks of the HYDRA agents, killing three of them. The officers of the SCPD spot Bucky and the rest of the team approaching and cheer as they continue to fight back.

The HYDRA agents don't realize what's happening until Bucky is right on top of them. In a smooth motion, Bucky puts away his assault rifle and draws a knife and a pistol. He then lunges into the HYDRA agents, slashing and stabbing with his knife while picking off other agents with his pistol. The HYDRA agents shrink back, surprised by the sudden attack. As they rally to try and strike back against Bucky, the rest of the team tears into the attacking HYDRA agents.

Once again, the advantage given by surprise is shown as Bucky and his team begins to massacre the HYDRA agents. Emboldened by the team's attacks, the men of the SCPD rally and charge to aid the team against the HYDRA agents.

As Bucky dodges a strike by a HYDRA agent and stabs him in the throat, two more HYDRA agents rush at him. Before Bucky can even react, there's a flash of movement, and the two men's heads are sliced clean off. The bodies collapse, revealing Slade behind them.

"Thanks," Bucky says.

"This is wrong. Why are they attacking so openly?" Slade asks out loud.

"I don't know," Bucky says, dodging a strike from a HYDRA agent before slitting his throat.

"Attacking openly like this, they should've expected such a strong response," Slade says.

Bucky suddenly freezes, then turns to face Slade at the same moment. Both of them know exactly what the other is thinking.

"Maybe that's why they attacked so openly. They wanted to draw us out," Bucky says.

Slade is quiet for a moment, then he says, "What if that's why they bombed the hospital? What if they were trying to draw you, me, and Diggle back to Star City?"

"Or maybe just me," Bucky says in a low voice. He then spins around, looking for a HYDRA agent. Seeing one that looks like he's trying to give orders to some of the other agents, Bucky charges right at him. Several HYDRA agents try to attack him, but he kills them without even blinking.

In seconds, he on the man he fixed on. He leaps right at him, tackling the man and pinning him to the ground using his cybernetic arm.

"You bombed the hospital to draw me back here? Didn't you?!" he demands.

The man smiles. "We had to draw you back. Now, you will serve HYDRA again," he says. He then pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket. Then, he makes a movement with his jaw that Bucky recognizes.

"No!" he shouts, but it's too late to stop the HYDRA agent from crunching the pill. Within moments, the man takes his last breath.

Bucky sits there for a moment, then sighs with frustration. He then glances down at the piece of paper. Unravelling it, he sees an address written on it.

1437 Snowhill Drive.

Bucky immediately gets on comms. "Felicity, get me directions to 1437 Snowhill Drive and guide me there. Slade, you're coming with me," he says.

"Got it," Felicity responds.

"I'm right behind you," Slade says. He and Bucky return to their motorcycles and speed off, leaving the rest of the team and the SCPD to mop up the few remaining HYDRA agents.

* * *

**And, I'll end there. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**So, yes. The purpose of the bombing was to draw Bucky back to Star City. And in the next chapter, he's finally going to meet Baron Strucker. And by the way, in this, Earth-1's Baron Strucker is portrayed by Thomas Kretschmann, the same guy who played Strucker in the MCU.**

**Next chapter will maybe be up later this week. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	7. Chapter 7- Baron Strucker

**Hey, guys. Back with another chapter. Hope you like it.**

**Green Hal37**: I totally spaced about Roy. I can be kind of forgetful, and included his name by accident. So, I went and corrected that. Roy is still recovering.

* * *

Chapter 7- Baron Strucker.

"Bucky, you're closing in on the warehouse. It should be less than a mile directly ahead of you," Felicity says over comms.

"Copy that, Felicity," Bucky says, trying to spur his motorcycle even faster as Slade tries to keep up with him.

Bucky grips the handlebars of his motorcycle tighter than ever. His anger since leaving the fight for this mystery address has grown. HYDRA's attack has only awoken old memories of his time under HYDRA's control, making him even more determined to bring this to an end.

A few minutes later, Felicity comes back on comms and says, "It's just a block ahead of you on the right."

"Copy," Bucky responds simply.

Sure enough, less than a minute later, Bucky and Slade spot the target building. An abandoned warehouse. Bucky looks at it for a moment, getting a bad vibe just by looking at the place. Then, he and Slade both draw their weapons and make their way into the warehouse.

As the two enter the warehouse, they move slowly, weapons at the ready, and their heads on a swivel. For almost a minute, they are quiet, just looking for anyone.

Suddenly, a voice speaks up, seemingly from nowhere, and says, "Welcome, Soldier. It is good to see you, again."

"I don't know who you are. But you made a big mistake by targeting my city," Bucky says.

"Oh, old friend. Why do you resist us like this?" the voice calls back.

Bucky is quiet. He's starting to catch on. Over the last couple years, since he first found out that Earth-1 had its own HYDRA, and especially over the last few days, he's gotten the idea that his Earth-1 doppelganger was the Winter Soldier for this Earth's HYDRA. Deciding to play along rather than tell whoever this is the truth, Bucky respond with, "I resist you because I'm done with HYDRA."

"Oh, no, my friend. You are not done. In fact, you are just beginning. You have a grand role to play yet," the voice responds.

Bucky pauses for a second. It sounds like the voice is coming from just around a tower of crates up ahead. Bucky turns back to Slade, motioning for him to wait out of sight for the time being, then makes his way around the crates. He turns towards the sound of the voice, and sees Baron Strucker standing a few yards away.

Bucky is quiet for a moment, then demands, "Who are you?"

"You really don't recognize me? I'm hurt," Strucker responds in a tone that's the opposite of sincere.

"My memory ain't what it used to be," Bucky responds.

"I am Baron Strucker, the rightful ruler of this world," Strucker says arrogantly.

The name means nothing to Bucky, but he acts like Strucker saying it jogged his memory. "Ahh, Strucker. Now I remember. But I'm still not impressed," he says.

"I could say the same of you, Soldier," Strucker says.

"I'm not the Winter Soldier anymore, Strucker. Not HYDRA's, at least," Bucky says.

"Oh, but you are, Barnes. You may have escaped us once and managed to evade our notice since then, but no longer. You will serve HYDRA again. And with you under my control again, I will see my vision fulfilled," Strucker says.

"Good to see you haven't lost arrogance, Strucker. You're really gonna have to do your worst if you want me to come back with you. Oh, and you'll have to get past my friend here as well," Bucky says, gesturing behind him. A second later, Slade steps into view, sword at the ready.

Strucker looks at Slade for a moment, then laughs. "Oh, Barnes. You must have lost a lot of your intelligence since I last saw you. I'm surprised you think I'm alone," he says.

Footsteps hit their ears. A moment later, a man steps into view. He's dressed in a cloak, with a hood that mostly hides his face. One of his hands is gloved, while over the other hand, he is wearing a rather teched out scythe.

Strucker laughs a little bit, then says, "Deathstroke is yours, Reaper." "Reaper" smirks before charging at Slade. Slade rushes to meet him, and clashes his sword against his enemy's scythe with a loud clang.

Strucker laughs again. "My friend, Grim Reaper, will handle your friend. But you are mine," he says.

"Then let's settle this the old fashioned way," Bucky says. He draws his knife, as Strucker draws a sword. As he does, Bucky sees that Strucker's other hand is a red cybernetic, which is glowing slightly. However, he quickly shrugs his curiosity as to what it is out of his mind and rushes at Strucker.

Strucker waits for Bucky to come to him. As Bucky slashes at Strucker with his knife, Strucker easily blocks it with his sword. He tries to slash at Bucky, but Bucky just lets the sword fall against his cybernetic arm before kicking Strucker, knocking him back. However, Strucker quickly recovers and strikes back at Bucky.

A few yards away, Slade and the man that Strucker referred to as the Grim Reaper are exchanging fierce blows, slashing, parrying, and slashing again. Slade is quietly impressed by the man's skill.

As Slade slashes at the Reaper, the man blocks his sword with his scythe. The two end up in a stalemate, each pushing against the other.

As they struggle, the Reaper smirks a bit and says, "I'm glad to finally meet you, Deathstroke. Your skills are legendary. I'm excited for the chance to prove myself to be the man who killed the famous Deathstroke."

"Really? Because unless I'm mistaken, I'm still alive despite your efforts," Slade responds.

"Well, then let's remedy that," the Reaper responds before kicking at Slade. Slade jumps back to avoid it, then stabs right at the Reaper's gut. Reaper dodges the strike, and the duel continues.

As this happens, Bucky manages to land a punch from his cybernetic arm right on Strucker's chest. He leaps forward, ready to kill Strucker. However, Strucker dodges out of the way of Bucky's knife. Then, before he can do anything, Strucker reaches out with his red cybernetic hand and grabs hold of Bucky's face.

The moment he does, the hand begins to glow. As it does, Bucky feels something alarming. He feels almost like his energy is being drained. Strucker is just looking at him smugly.

Feeling a little bit of desperation, Bucky manages to reach down, grab a flash bang off his belt, and set it off. Strucker cries out as the flash bang goes off, and lets go of Bucky, stumbling back.

Bucky collapses, feeling far more tired than he should be. However, he does have some energy left. He pulls a pistol off of his belt and fires a single shot. Due to how tired he is, his aim is a little off, so the bullet goes through Strucker's left shoulder.

Strucker stumbles back, clutching at his shoulder. After a few moments, he glances over at Grim Reaper and says, "Reaper! We're leaving!"

Reaper deflects a blow from Slade, then reaches into a pocket, pulls out several smoke bombs, and throws them down. The cloud of smoke released forces Slade and Bucky to cover their faces. When the smoke clears, both Grim Reaper and Strucker are gone.

Slade stands there for a second, looking around to make sure the two are gone, then turns and hurries towards Bucky. He drops to one knee beside Bucky, who is on his knees and shaking a bit, and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright, Barnes?" he asks.

"I will be. But, that gauntlet he had on…whatever it did, I felt like it was draining my energy," Bucky says.

Slade just kneels there for a second, then says, "Well, once you feel up to it, we should get back to the bunker. The team is gonna want to know what happened here."

"Agreed," Bucky says, trying to catch his breath.

* * *

(The bunker, 1 hour later)

"So, you ran into the head of HYDRA?" Felicity asks.

"Yeah. Called himself Baron Strucker. And the guy with him, he called Grim Reaper. They both pack quite a punch," Bucky says. He's feeling much better now, but he's still feeling some of the effects of Strucker's gauntlet.

"And, they seemed to think you were their Winter Soldier?" Diggle asks.

"Yup. And it must have been my doppelganger, because they used the name Barnes," Bucky answers.

The team is quiet for a few moments, then Rene asks, "So, what do we do about it?"

Nyssa then speaks up. "The League has had encounters with HYDRA before. My father met one of their leaders, though the meeting was not amicable," she starts.

"Do you know anything about HYDRA from your father that could help us?" Bucky asks quickly.

"No. My father never shared too much about HYDRA with me. He may have, given time, but he never did," Nyssa responds.

Several members of the team sigh. Then, Nyssa says, "But, there is one person who may know something about HYDRA that could help us. My sister. Talia."

Everyone is quiet for a moment before Bucky says, "Alright. Then we need to find and talk with Talia."

* * *

**I'll end there.**

**So, Talia will also be playing a role here. She'll end up being one of the ones to help them track down HYDRA's HQ.**

**And yes, Grim Reaper has joined the MACU. He's worked with HYDRA in the comics, so I thought I'd introduce him. Let me know who you think could play him.**

**I'll end there for now. I'll try and get another chapter up tomorrow, or Monday. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned.**


	8. Chapter 8- History of HYDRA

**Hey, guys. Back with yet another chapter. Hope you like this one. I'm finally gonna give you the history of this Earth's HYDRA. It'll be a little different than on Earth-99.**

**Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 8- History of HYDRA

Bucky sighs a bit as he turns a corner on a street in Athens. The traffic has been a lot worse than he thought it would be, and it, plus the lack of sleep, has him in a bit of a bad mood.

"Ugh. I hate traffic," Bucky grumbles. He then looks at Nyssa, who is sitting in the passenger's seat of their rental car. "Why is your sister in Athens, again? I thought she preferred Tibet."

"She did. However, after Team Flash and Dr. Strange defeated the sorcerer known as Ilan several years ago, she and her warriors have taken up the responsibility of protecting the Sanctums that protect this world from the demon Dormammu. She travels between them, but she spends most of her time in the Athens Sanctum," Nyssa explains.

Bucky just nods in response. A few moments later, Nyssa points ahead of them and says, "There it is." Bucky follows her finger and sees a building bigger than those around it, and with a large window on the top floor with a strange design on it.

Bucky pulls up in front of the Sanctum and parks the car. He and Nyssa climb out, and Nyssa pulls her sword out of the car and straps it on.

"Do you really think you need that? I mean, she's your sister," Bucky says.

"With Talia and her students, you never know," Nyssa says. She then heads for the door, and Bucky follows her.

As they open the doors and step into the Sanctum, Nyssa looks around. Then, before she can react, several people in black outfits appear in the lobby.

"You are not welcome here," one of them says.

"I am here to speak with Talia," Nyssa says.

"Leave now," the one who spoke first says, ignoring what Nyssa said. When Nyssa and Bucky don't immediately leave, the black clad people draw their swords and lunge forward.

Nyssa parries their strikes easily with her own sword, while Bucky ducks under their slashes and knocks them back with his fists.

After just a minute, as Bucky is grappling with one of the assassins, a loud female voice suddenly calls, "Hold!"

All of the assassins stop, then step back as Talia walks into the lobby. "Leave us," Talia says.

As the assassins all walk out of the lobby, Nyssa says, "I thought after fighting together against Thanos, you would be a little more trusting of me, Sister."

"My students are the ones who are the suspicious ones, Sister," Talia responds. She pauses for a moment, then nods once to Bucky and says, "Mr. Barnes."

"Talia," Bucky responds politely.

Talia then looks back at Nyssa and asks, "Why have you come here, Sister?"

"We need your help. We need information on a group were fighting in Star City. They call themselves HYDRA," Nyssa says.

At the mention of the name HYDRA, Talia's expression changes and becomes more serious. "I see," she says. She pauses for a second, then gestures to them and says, "Come with me."

The two follow Talia out of the lobby and into another room. There they all sit down, and sit in silence for a moment before Talia asks, "What do you wish to know?"

"Everything. We need to understand everything we can about HYDRA, and anything we can use to figure out where to find them and how to beat them," Bucky says.

"That story is a very long and complicated one. Nobody knows when HYDRA actually began, but it is believed to have been formed sometime around the formation of the Roman Empire. It is believed it was originally formed to combat the oppression of the Roman Empire. However, it soon grew beyond its original goals, and became a group of terror and death," Talia says.

She then pauses for a moment, then continues, "When the League of Assassins was formed in the year 1013, its first leader, Al-Fatih, wrote that one of his reasons for doing so was to combat HYDRA. Ever since then, HYDRA was been the League's greatest enemy. The League and HYDRA have continuously fought each other for a millennium. My father considered HYDRA to be just as dangerous an enemy as Damien Darhk and his followers."

"In the Second World War, a Nazi leader named Baron Heinrich Zemo usurped the leadership of HYDRA. His ambition had grown, and he was no longer satisfied following Adolf Hitler. He had become a great warrior, and used science to evolve his body beyond that of a normal human. HYDRA saw him as superhuman, and rallied behind him. Under Zemo, HYDRA became an entity dedicated to world domination under a fascist regime. HYDRA attempted to fight against both the Allies and the Axis Powers in World War II, but was badly beaten. Since then, they have built up their strength in secret, sowing the seeds of chaos and war. The League has fought back against them as much as possible, but they have continued to grow. The League have been lucky that HYDRA never gathered the courage and means to attack Nanda Parbat," Talia continues.

Bucky and Nyssa are quiet, then Bucky asks, "Have you ever encountered HYDRA yourself?"

"Yes. When I was younger, my father received word of a very small HYDRA outpost not far from Nanda Parbat. He assigned me and two other members of the League to raid the base and kill as many of the HYDRA agents as we could. We succeeded in our goal, but we encountered a HYDRA assassin. Incidentally, he was also called the Winter Soldier. He killed one of the two assassins that came with me before attacking me. I was lucky that I survived the encounter and drove him off," Talia explains.

"Do you know what happened to that Winter Soldier?" Bucky asks, mainly just to satisfy his own curiosity.

"My father killed him. A short time after my encounter with him, the Winter Soldier killed several more members of the League. Not wanting him to claim any more League lives, my father went after him, and killed him. My father never told me much regarding the duel, but he did say that the Winter Soldier was the toughest opponent he had ever faced aside from Damien Darhk and his predecessor as Ra's al Ghul," Talia says.

Bucky nods, taking that in. Then, he asks, "Do you have an idea of where their headquarters is?"

"They do not have one. Their current leader, Baron Helmut Zemo, who is the son of Heinrich Zemo, prefers not to operate from any fixed HQ. Rather, he travels, keeping his movements unpredictable. I know that he does frequent Eastern Europe and Russia, but he shifts his headquarters constantly, and has operated from every continent. You would have to interrogate HYDRA agents to try and get that answer, and HYDRA is known for suicide rather than capture," Talia says.

Bucky looks at Talia in confusion. Then, he asks, "Wait? You said Baron Helmut Zemo is HYDRA's leader? That's not what we thought. We've been dealing with a guy named Baron Strucker in Star City."

"Strucker? No, Strucker is not the leader of HYDRA. He is one of the inner circle of HYDRA, so to speak," Talia responds.

Bucky feels very confused, and he and Nyssa exchange looks. "Really? Because when I met Strucker, he called himself the rightful ruler of the world. I mean, he could be saying that on behalf of HYDRA, but it didn't feel like it," he says.

Bucky pauses for a moment before muttering to himself, "What is going on here?"

* * *

**And, I'll end there. I know that this one is a shorter one again, but I just wanted to show Talia explaining HYDRA's history. I hope I did a good job on it.**

**Also, just for reference. Per Aragorn II Elessar's suggestion, I have chosen James Franco as my actor of choice to portray Grim Reaper.**

**So, some of you may be wondering what the whole thing is with Baron Zemo and Baron Strucker. You'll find out next chapter, as well as a secret regarding Taskmaster. That chapter should be up on Monday. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	9. Chapter 9- Truth About Taskmaster

**Hey, everybody. Back with yet another chapter.**

**This chapter is going to get a bit into Taskmaster's backstory, as well as what's going on with Strucker. I hope you're excited.**

**Let's get started.**

* * *

Chapter 9- Truth About Taskmaster

Laurel sighs as she walks out of the Big Belly Burger. She's been feeling a little frustrated that Bucky had her remain in Star City while he and Nyssa went to Athens to speak to Talia. She doesn't really like it that her boyfriend has been taking so many "trips" recently.

She hops in her car and starts off in the direction of the bunker, munching on some fries as she drives.

A few minutes later, she walks into the bunker, still eating her fries. The only people in the bunker are Roy, Thea, and Curtis.

"Hey, guys," Laurel says. She walks up to Roy, who's resting in a chair, and offers him the rest of her fries.

Roy smiles. "Thanks, Laurel. I was just starting to get hungry," he says as he takes the fries.

Laurel smirks as she walks over to sit down and eat her burger. However, she's only a few bites into the burger before she hears a beeping from the computer. Sighing at being interrupted, she sets her burger down and walks over to the computer.

"What's up?" Thea asks.

"Looks like some idiots decided to try and rob the Star City National Bank," Laurel responds. She then glances over at Thea and asks, "What do you say you and me go take 'em down?"

Thea is quiet for a moment, then shrugs. "Sure," she says before walking over to where her suit is.

Laurel turns to Curtis and says, "You stay here with Roy and stay on comms." She then makes her way over to her suit.

* * *

(Downtown Star City)

"Come on! We gotta hurry! The cops are gonna be here soon!" one of the bank robbers says to the other three.

"The cops aren't who I'm worried about," another one of the robbers says, but he hurries a little faster.

After a few more minutes, they've stuffed their bags full of as much cash as possible. "Alright, let's move!" one of the robbers says. The four men hurry out of the vault and towards the hole they blew in the wall of the bank, where their getaway car is waiting for them.

Almost the moment they exit the bank, they hear a scream and a shockwave knocks them off their feet. As they get back to their feet, they see Laurel and Thea standing not far away.

"If you put the money down and walk away nicely, maybe we'll let you go," Thea says. In response, the robbers raise their guns and fire at them. Laurel and Thea easily dodge and duck behind a dumpster.

"Well, I guess they're not gonna give up," Laurel says nonchalantly.

"Agreed," Thea responds just as calmly before she jumps out from behind the dumpster and fires an arrow, getting one of the men in the shoulder. Then, Laurel also leaps into view and uses her scream again, knocking the other three back down.

Thea and Laurel both rush at the three remaining robbers. The men try to shake themselves out of the daze that Laurel's scream left them in. But, before they can, Laurel and Thea are upon them. With several quick blows, they have knocked out the remaining three robbers.

Thea and Laurel just look down at them for a moment. Then, Thea glances at Laurel and says, "Wow. That was almost too easy."

The moment the words are out of her mouth, an arrow flies between the two of them and embeds itself in a lamppost a few feet away. The two whip around, and to their surprise, see Taskmaster standing about 20 feet away.

"I had to open my big mouth," Thea mutters just loud enough for Laurel to hear.

Laurel glares at Taskmaster intently for a few moments before she harshly demands, "What are you doing here, Taskmaster?"

"Well, I'm here on behalf of HYDRA. I thought that would be obvious by this point," Taskmaster responds sarcastically.

"Enough with smart-a**ery, Taskmaster," Laurel says harshly.

Taskmaster laughs, then says, "Why? It's so much fun."

Laurel glares at him more fiercely. "I've had enough of this," she says before leaning forward and screaming loudly at Taskmaster. To her surprise, he simply leans forward a bit to brace himself, and just stands there.

After a few moments, Laurel stops screaming and looks at Taskmaster in surprise. "How did you shrug that off?" she asks.

Taskmaster laughs before saying, "You really think that I hadn't forseen us meeting? Three years ago, when I first came to Star City, I stole some earbuds from some guy designed to protect against your scream. I've kept them with me ever since."

Taskmaster then draws his sword. "Now, I must say you aren't the one I was hoping to run into. Tell me, where can I find Mr. Barnes?" he asks

Laurel glares at Taskmaster again. "You'll get to him over my dead body," she says.

Taskmaster chuckles again before saying, "If you insist." He then lunges forward to attack Laurel.

Laurel manages to duck under Taskmaster's sword. Then, before he can strike again, Thea lunges to attack with her katana. Taskmaster takes a step back to get on a better footing, and fights back viciously, immediately copying Thea's fighting style.

Then, Laurel jumps into the fight, attacking with her fists. She comes at Taskmaster from the opposite side as Thea. However, without missing a beat, Taskmaster slips his shield off his back and uses it to block Laurel's strikes.

Laurel growls in frustration as she tries to get under Taskmaster's guard. But Taskmaster quickly shows how quick and tactically minded he is. Despite her and Thea's fierce attacks, Taskmaster easily keeps up with them.

For almost a full minute, Laurel and Thea try and get under Taskmaster's guard, but he continues to hold them off. He manages to cut Thea with his sword twice, and causes Laurel to break several fingers against his shield.

Then, after almost a full minute, Taskmaster makes one small mistake. He slashes at Thea, but his slash is a little high. It gives Thea the chance she needs to get under Taskmaster's guard, and she takes advantage of it. She gets in close and slashes at Taskmaster's arm. He tries to dodge aside, but Thea manages to inflict a shallow cut across his arm.

Taskmaster growls in pain. Then, Laurel takes advantage of his brief confusion and lunges for him. She slugs him in the face, then puts Taskmaster in a head lock. Pulling as hard as she can, she throws Taskmaster over her shoulder. Taskmaster tumbles a few feet before getting back to his feet. And in the process, his mask comes off.

Laurel and Thea both face Taskmaster, ready to attack again. Then, Taskmaster turns back to face them. And both Laurel and Thea freeze, their eyes going as wide as saucers as the face of Tommy Merlyn stares back at them.

"Tommy?" Thea gasps.

Taskmaster laughs. "Nah. You already know my doppelganger has been dead for years. I already told you. I'm Taskmaster. Although, if you prefer my real name, you can call me Tony Masters," he says in an arrogant tone Tommy never had.

"Wait. You're from another Earth?" Laurel asks.

Taskmaster chuckles as he says, "Yeah. Earth-99 to be exact."

Both Thea and Laurel glance at each other at the mention of Earth-99, then back at Taskmaster. "What do you want? Why are you working with HYDRA?" Laurel demands.

Taskmaster laughs. "I work for whoever who can dish out the best paycheck. And what better place to work than other Earths?" he says.

Laurel glares at Taskmaster, then says, "Well, you're gonna regret ever coming to our Earth." She then screams again. Again, Taskmaster just braces himself as she screams.

However, the moment Laurel stops screaming, Thea starts firing arrows at him. Taskmaster easily blocks the arrows with his shield, but it gives Laurel the chance she needs to rush at Taskmaster.

Thea stops shooting arrows a split second before Laurel attacks Taskmaster. He easily fends off her blows, instantly copying her fighting style.

After a few moments, she throws a punch at Taskmaster's head, which he stops with his free hand. He then swings his shield at Laurel, but she manages to grab it with her free hand.

The two struggle against each other for a moment. Then, Laurel growls, "What do you want with my boyfriend?" She doesn't bother trying to hide who she really is, as Taskmaster clearly knows.

Taskmaster chuckles in response before saying, "It's time for the Winter Soldier to return to HYDRA. I will bring him back, and then he will fuflfill his purpose and show Baron Zemo who is the rightful leader of HYDRA."

He then kicks her right in the knee, causing her to collapse to one knee. He then kicks her away from him. However, as soon as he does, Thea fires an arrow, hitting him right in the chest.

Taskmaster stumbles back, pulling the arrow out of his chest. The arrow didn't make it through his suit, but was enough to wound him a little.

Taskmaster looks at Thea in anger. Then, a sound hits their ears. The sound of police sirens.

Taskmaster looks around a bit, then looks back at Thea. "Well. Looks like this round is a draw. I'm sure I'll see you again soon," he says. He then throws down a flash bang. When their vision clears, Taskmaster is gone.

Laurel and Thea look around for a moment, then Thea says, "Well, he kinda kicked our a**."

"Yeah. But he may have given us a hint about HYDRA's plan," Laurel responds.

* * *

**And, I'll end there. I hope you liked this one.**

**So, yes. Taskmaster is Tommy's Earth-99 doppelganger. I thought that would be an interesting thing to try out.**

**Also, just in case it's not already obvious, I'll clarify it. Taskmaster is working for Baron Strucker alone, not HYDRA. And Strucker is using Taskmaster to accomplish his goal, which is to overthrow Baron Zemo and take control of HYDRA.**

**Next chapter will hopefully be up tomorrow. After that, updates will likely be sparing as I will be spending a lot of my time studying for my finals, which start at the end of the week. Until next chapter is up, leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	10. Chapter 10- The Hunt Is On

**Alright, guys. Back with another chapter. This is gonna be a shorter one, and is mostly to transition from the last chapter to the next one. Hope you like this one.**

**So, I've gotten some questions about why I chose to have Taskmaster be Tommy's doppelganger. First off, I thought it would open up some interesting opportunities for his interactions with those familiar with Tommy. Also, I noticed they have the same initials. Plus, I wanted to give one of Tommy's doppelgangers the opportunity to have a big impact in the MACU. Taskmaster is gonna pay a vital role in my version of Crisis on Infinite Earths, so I figured why not have him be Tommy's doppelganger.**

**Also, as I'm sure you all know, in the Arrowverse, the Crisis has finally begun. I thought the first episode was pretty great, although it could've been better. Still, I'm really excited for the rest of the crossover.**

* * *

Chapter 10- The Hunt Is On

Bucky hurries into the bunker, with Nyssa following close behind. They had received a message from the team the morning after their discussion with Talia letting them know that Taskmaster had appeared in Star City, and Laurel and Thea had fought him.

"Laurel!" Bucky calls out as he walks into the bunker.

For a moment, there's no answer. Then, Laurel hurries over from the training area. "It's okay, Bucky. I'm right here," she says.

Bucky hurries forward and pulls Laurel into a hug. "Oh my goodness, I was worried about you," he says.

"It's fine. I had Thea with me. And in any case, Taskmaster's gonna have to try harder than he did to kill me," Laurel says.

Bucky sighs, then says, "Doesn't mean I can't worry about you."

After another moment, he lets her go. Looking around, he sees the rest of the team has gathered. As he pulls away from Laurel, Thea says, "We found out some stuff about Taskmaster and HYDRA. So, why don't you tell us what Talia told you, and then we'll tell you what we found out?"

Bucky nods, then leads Laurel onto the computer platform. The rest of the team gathers, eager to know what Bucky and Nyssa learned from Talia.

"So, Nyssa was able to give us plenty of information on HYDRA, especially its history. Apparently, it was formed around the time of the start of the Roman Empire, and was formed to fight the Romans. Eventually, it grew into a terrorist organization dedicated to anarchy. But, during WWII, a Nazi named Baron Heinrich Zemo took control of HYDRA and turned it into an organization bent on world domination. Since then, it's been secretly building up its influence and strength, and is apparently now led by Heinrich Zemo's son, Helmut," Bucky summarizes what Talia told them about HYDRA.

At his last words, Laurel and Thea exchange a glance. The gesture is not missed by Bucky, who asks, "What's that for?"

Laurel looks back at her boyfriend before saying, "We found something out from Taskmaster when he attacked us. Well, two things actually. The first thing is that he's from Earth-99, and he's Tommy Merlyn's doppelganger."

Bucky is surprised at this revelation. Through reviewing Oliver's files, and talking with Oliver on Earth-99 after the Battle, he knows who Tommy is. After a few moments, he says, "He's Tommy's doppelganger from Earth-99? What's he even doing on this Earth?"

"That, he didn't say, except to say that he saw it as a good opportunity for employment. But, he did let slip what he's doing for HYDRA. He's been tasked with bringing you back so you can, in his own words, 'show Baron Zemo who is the rightful leader of HYDRA'," Laurel says.

Bucky is quiet for a moment, exchanging a glance with Nyssa. Then, he says, "Well, that confirms what I suspected."

"What's that?" Roy asks.

"When we were talking with Talia, we mentioned the guy who me and Slade ran into. Baron Strucker. She said that Strucker is a member of the inner circle of HYDRA, and that Baron Zemo is the overall leader of HYDRA. I think what's going on is that Strucker hired Taskmaster, had him break Viper out of prison, and then send him to bring me back to HYDRA, all for the purpose of forming a team to take out Baron Zemo and establish himself as the leader of HYDRA," Bucky explains his theory.

The team is quiet for a few moments. Then, Rene asks, "So, basically, HYDRA is in the middle of a secret civil war?"

"That's what it sounds like. Although from what I can tell, it seems like Baron Zemo doesn't know about Strucker's plan yet," Bucky responds.

"So what do we do?" Curtis asks.

"Well, I think it's clear that Taskmaster is probably still somewhere near Star City, and he's probably gonna be returning for me sooner rather than later. We can use that to our advantage. We track Taskmaster down, and once we find him, we get him to tell us where we can find Strucker," Bucky says.

"And maybe, if we can find Strucker, he can tell us where we can find Baron Zemo, and we can put an end to HYDRA's leadership," Thea says, catching onto Bucky's plan.

"Bingo," Bucky says.

"So, how are we going to find Taskmaster? If he's as skilled as he seems to be, he's gonna be skilled in stealth as well," Diggle says.

"I've got an idea," Bucky says as he pulls out his phone and walks a short distance away from the rest of the group

After dialing a number he's grown familiar with, Bucky calmly waits for the answer. After a moment, he hears the familiar voice of Lyla answer, "Hey, Bucky. What is it?"

"Lyla, we think we have a handle on Taskmaster and HYDRA's plans. We think Taskmaster is working with a man named Baron Strucker to kill Baron Zemo, the leader of HYDRA, and let Strucker take over HYDRA. We think if we can find Strucker, we can stop him and figure out how to get rid of HYDRA's leadership and leave HYDRA crippled," Bucky explains.

"I see. Is there anything you can tell us about Taskmaster that may help us be able to track him?" Lyla asks.

"Yes, actually. We just recently discovered that he's from Earth-99, and he's Tommy Merlyn's doppelganger," Bucky says.

"Wait. Seriously?" Lyla asks in surprise.

"100 percent," Bucky responds.

Lyla is quiet for a moment. Then, she says, "Well, in that case, I may have something. Just a few hours ago, we picked up someone who resembled Tommy Merlyn on a surveillance camera in Bludhaven. There's a small compound there that he was spotted entering. If you're right, then that may be where Taskmaster is hiding."

"Thank you, Lyla. Send us those coordinates, and we'll move out immediately," Bucky says before hanging up.

Bucky then turns back to the team and says, "Well, it looks like ARGUS may have found Taskmaster's hiding place. She's sending us the coordinates now." He looks at Curtis and says, "Curtis, you and Thea stay here. Keep an eye on Roy, and be ready in case anything happens here in Star City. Everyone else…suit up."

* * *

**And, I'll end there. Hope you liked this one.**

**Next chapter will either be up tomorrow, or the end of the week. Maybe. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	11. Chapter 11- Finding Taskmaster

**Hey, guys. Back with Chapter 11. I'm sorry I've been inactive for like a week, but I had finals, and I've spent most of the time studying. Thankfully, I only have one left, and it's my easiest one, so I figured I'd take some time to crank out a chapter.**

**This one is gonna be a little more action packed. And after this, we're gonna get to the final fight with Strucker's forces.**

**Let's get to it.**

**Arrowverse Fan 217**: I'm not gonna write an MACU version of the Black Widow movie, just because things are different with this. I may make mention of the events throughout Phase 2, and may even include Red Guardian and Yelena Belova in the future. But don't expect a story to be written to cover the Black Widow movie.

* * *

Chapter 11- Finding Taskmaster

Bucky turns to the rest of his team, all of whom are ready to go. "Alright, guys. This may be our best chance to get information on how to find Baron Strucker. Are you ready?" he asks.

"More than," Slade responds. Diggle, Nyssa, Rene, and Laurel nod in agreement.

"Alright. Let's go," Bucky says.

Everyone heads aboveground and gets into the van, with Diggle driving. Then, the team sets off for Bludhaven.

It's a few hours drive to Bludhaven. It's not until a little after 2 in the morning that they reach the coordinates that Lyla sent them, and find themselves outside a residential compound about the size of the old Queen Mansion.

Diggle parks a short distance away to avoid arousing suspicion. Once the van is parked, Bucky opens the back door, and everyone climbs out.

"Alright guys. Here's the plan. Dig, you take Rene and scale the north wall. Nyssa, Laurel, you take the south wall," Bucky orders.

"What about you and Slade?" Laurel asks.

Bucky smirks. "We're gonna knock on the front door," Bucky says. Hearing this, Slade smirks under his helmet.

"Alright, move out!" Bucky orders. Diggle, Rene, Nyssa, and Laurel slink off towards their assignments, while Bucky and Slade head for the entrance to the compound.

Reaching the entrance, Bucky pulls out a small explosive charge and sets it against the gate. He and Slade then take a few steps back to avoid the blast, with Bucky pulling two pistols from their holsters and Slade drawing his sword.

A few moments later, the charge explodes and knocks down the gate. Bucky and Slade wait a moment, then race into the compound through the open gate.

As soon as they get into the compound, they run into four HYDRA agents. Bucky immediately kills two with his pistols. Slade rushes the other two and cuts them down with two quick strokes.

"Let's move!" Bucky says quickly as he hurries towards the main building. Slade follows him closely.

The blast and Bucky's gunshots have now drawn the attention of the entire compound. HYDRA agents start rushing out of the two side buildings and heading towards the main building to confront Bucky and Slade. As they do, Diggle, Rene, Nyssa, and Laurel slip over the walls of the compounds and head for the two side buildings.

Diggle kicks in the door of the northern building, and he and Rene storm in. Two HYDRA agents are still in the building, and Diggle takes them out before they can respond. Looking around, Diggle sees that they are some computers and filing cabinets in the room.

"Hurry, Rene. Let's get anything we can from this place," Diggle says. Rene nods in response, and the two start intelligence gathering.

Meanwhile, at the southern building, Laurel kicks in the door. She and Nyssa explore the building, and take out three agents still in the building. However, they find nothing of interest in the building.

As these two teams are getting to their targets, Bucky and Slade are on the bottom floor of the main building, fighting the HYDRA agents already in the building and those that came from the two side buildings.

As Bucky ducks under a blow from one HYDRA agent and knocks him out with a blow to the face, Slade says to him, "You know, they could at least try and make it a challenge for us."

"I know, right?" Bucky responds as he grapples with another agent.

It doesn't take long before all of the HYDRA agents on the floor are dead or knocked out. Bucky and Slade look around at all the dead and unconscious bodies for a moment, then Slade says, "I was honestly expecting more."

"So was I," Bucky responds.

"Well, then I'd hate to disappoint you," a voice calls to them from up the stairs. Bucky and Slade freeze, glance at each other, then turn towards the stairs. As they do, they hear footsteps coming down the stairs. A moment later, Taskmaster appears, walking slowly and deliberately down the stairs, as if he's trying to bait or mock them.

"Well, Lyla was right," Slade mutters.

"What is a guy of your skill and apparent importance doing in a dump like this?" Bucky demands.

Taskmaster chuckles. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he asks tauntingly.

"I would actually," Bucky replies firmly.

Taskmaster chuckles again. "Well, you sure are testy today. Can't say I blame you after I fought your girlfriend," he responds. He pauses for a moment, then continues, "HYDRA may have resources, but they can't have extravagant hideouts like yours everywhere. Sometimes they have to make do."

"What do you want, Taskmaster? Or should I call you Tony Masters?" Bucky says harshly.

Taskmaster chuckles again. "So, they told you the truth. Good, now everyone knows," he says gleefully before saying in a more serious tone, "You've been a tough man to find, Barnes. Baron Strucker's tired of you always slipping away. He's decided he can carry out his plan without you. So, there's no longer any reason to allow you to live." Then, almost faster than they can react, Taskmaster whips his shield off his back and throws it right at Bucky. Bucky manages to deflect it. However, Taskmaster summons it back to himself via the magnetic attachments on the back of the shield as he draws his sword and rushes at Bucky and Slade.

Slade slashes at Taskmaster, but Taskmaster easily parries it with his own sword. Bucky then tries to punch Taskmaster with his cybernetic arm, but Taskmaster blocks it with his shield.

The three engage in a fierce duel. Taskmaster, initially sandwiched between the two, shifts over to more guerilla tactics, trying to keep himself limited to one opponent at a time to make it easier. Even still, he's able to hold off Bucky and Slade with relative ease.

For almost half a minute, the three fight, none of them managing to actually land a blow. Then, Slade and Bucky trap him by striking at the same time. Taskmaster blocks them both, Slade with his sword and Bucky with his shield. Then, before Taskmaster can strike back, Bucky suddenly backflips, kicking Taskmaster under the chin as he goes.

Taskmaster stumbles back from the kick, right before Slade manages to cut him on his side, following it up with a kick to the stomach.

Taskmaster lands on his back. He lays there for a second, then gets back on his feet, chuckling. "You two are worthy opponents, I will admit. However, I think our little game is over for now," he says. He then sheaths his sword and slides his shield onto his back, then draws his bow and an arrow, all in one smooth movement. He then fires the arrow into the ceiling. It's quickly revealed to be an explosive arrow when it detonates, blowing a hole in the ceiling.

Taskmaster then pulls a device out of his belt, presses a button, and tosses it to the ground. "We'll continue this later," he says before firing a grappling hook arrow and lifting up to the second floor. He then blows another hole in the roof before firing off another grappling hook arrow, which attaches to a helicopter that has just flown over the compound. He lifts out of the building and flies off with the helicopter.

Bucky and Slade look at the device, and see a count down on it. "S***!" Bucky yells, and he and Slade turn and race towards the exit. As they run, Bucky gets on comms and yells, "Guys! Taskmaster just escaped, and he just activated a self destruct sequence on this place! Get out now!"

Diggle, Rene, Nyssa, and Laurel all freeze for a second after hearing that, then race put of the side buildings and head for the walls.

Slade and Bucky dash out of the front gate. The other four manage to make it over the walls just before explosives packed into the walls of the buildings detonate, destroying the entire compound.

Bucky watches the fireball for a moment before calling out on comms, "Everyone okay?"

"Rene and I are," Diggle responds.

"So are me and Nyssa," Laurel responds.

Bucky breathes a sigh of relief. Then, he says, "Let's get back to the van. We'll head back to the bunker and regroup there."

* * *

(The bunker, that afternoon)

"Anything?" Bucky asks Felicity. She's been going over the intelligence Diggle and Rene were able to pull off of the computers they found. None of the papers they had found had anything of use, but Felicity is confident that there has to be something of value on this flash drive.

"Nothing yet. Everything I've cracked so far is pretty much worthless. But, there's some serious safeguards on some of these files. Give me a few minutes, and I should be able to crack the safeguards," Felicity responds.

Bucky nods and walks away to the training area, where Laurel is working out with one of the punching bags.

"You alright, babe?" he asks.

"I'll feel better once we finally stop Strucker and Taskmaster," she responds, punching the bag again.

"I know. We will," Bucky says. He pauses for a few moments, then he walks over and grabs two pairs of escrima sticks and asks, "Wanna spar?"

Laurel smirks. She walks over and takes two of the sticks, then attacks Bucky. Bucky easily blocks her, and the two start sparring.

Their sparring match lasts for a few minutes until Bucky's phone starts ringing. He steps back out of reach of Laurel, then turns and walks over to where his phone is resting. Picking it up, he answers with a simple, "Hello?"

"Hey, Barnes. It's Vincent Sobel. How's it going?"

Bucky smirks a bit. "Hey, Sobel. Nice to hear from you," he says.

"You as well. But I got something for you. We got your message a while back about HYDRA. Well, you're in luck. Last night, Dinah and I had a run-in with some HYDRA agents. We managed to take one alive, even though he tried to make sure we didn't. We…interrogated him. He was good under pressure, but we eventually got him to crack. He didn't give us too much that seemed important, but he did tell us about a guy named Strucker, and that he was gathering his forces in Texas to prepare to go after a guy named Zemo," Vincent says.

Bucky is quiet for a moment, then starts to smile. "Thank you, Vincent. That's very helpful information. If you get any more, please tell me," he says.

"Will do. Good luck with this, Barnes," Vincent says before hanging up.

Bucky lowers his phone and glances around at the team, who are all looking at him except for Felicity, who is concentrating on trying to crack the safeguards around the files.

"That was Vincent Sobel. He told me that he and Dinah captured and interrogated a HYDRA agent last night, and he told them that Strucker was gathering his forces in Texas to prepare for the strike against Zemo," Bucky says.

"Just Texas? Didn't give you a specific area?" Rene asks.

"No, but this is still valuable. We have our search area at least limited to one state, and we know Strucker is getting to execute his plans," Bucky says.

"And we may have his location!" Felicity blurts out. Everybody turns to her, confused.

Felicity turns around to everybody, grinning. "I just cracked the safeguards on one file, and it showed a map of major HYDRA bases in the US. There's two in Texas, but one is really small. The other is a rather big, hidden facility that's about 50 miles from Austin. If that agent said Strucker is going to be in Texas, then that's where he's going to be in Texas," she says.

Bucky starts to grin. He looks around at everybody and says, "We've got 'em."

* * *

**And, I'll end there.**

**I hope you liked this chapter. And for those wondering, this will actually be Bucky's only fight with Taskmaster. He'll be the one to take down Strucker, so somebody else will fight Taskmaster in Texas.**

**And for those wondering if there's a specific reason I chose Texas, there isn't. I just picked the first state that came to my mind.**

**Next chapter will hopefully be up on Friday. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	12. Chapter 12- Fall of Strucker

**Hey, guys. Here we are. The final battle with Baron Strucker.**

**I know this story was probably a lot shorter than you were probably hoping for. But, at the same time, if I tried to make it longer, I think it just would've gotten tired, and you all probably would've gotten tired of it. But don't worry. As I've said, this will not be Taskmaster's last story in the MACU.**

**Alright. Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 12- Fall of Strucker

At a small ARGUS airstrip near Austin, a C-130 touches down and taxis over to a parking spot. Once the engines shut down, the back of the C-130 opens up, and Bucky walks slowly down onto the tarmac. Laurel is right behind him, followed by Diggle, Rene, Curtis, Nyssa, and Slade.

"Where is the reinforcements you said were gonna be here?" Laurel asks.

"Not sure," Bucky says, glancing around. Then, he spots someone approaching, and says, "There he is."

Everyone looks where Bucky is looking, and sees Steve approaching, his shield in hand.

"Steve. What's he doing here without Team Flash?" Laurel asks.

Bucky just smirks and walks towards Steve. "Hey, buddy," he says.

"Hey, Buck," Steve says before giving Bucky a quick hug.

"Rest of the team couldn't come?" Bucky asks.

"There's a metahuman in Central City that just showed up, and they're trying to track them down. Pietro and Cisco felt they could make do without me, though. In any case, if there's a HYDRA, no matter what world, I'm ready to fight," Steve says.

"Glad to hear it," Bucky says cheerfully. He then turns to the rest of the team and says, "Alright, team. Let's move."

The team follow Bucky and Steve to the edge of the airfield, where two ARGUS Humvees have been left for them to use. Bucky and Steve take up driving duties, and the two Humvees speed off in the direction of the HYDRA base.

From the airstrip, it's just a 35 minute drive cross country to where the HYDRA facility is located. However, Bucky and Steve park the Humvees about five minutes away to try and maintain at least some surprise.

They park the Humvees among some brush. Once the teams climb out of the Humvees, they throw some camouflage tarps over them to further hide them from view.

"Alright, team. Let's move," Bucky says, and the team follows Bucky across the dusty Earth towards a large hill up ahead, where, according to the captured HYDRA files from the compound in Bludhaven, HYDRA's facility is located.

It takes about a half hour of walking for the team to reach the hill. Once they reach the hill, they start searching for the entrance into the HYDRA facility.

After a just a few minutes of searching the length of the hill, they find it on the opposite side of the hill. A large door, set into the hill, and heavily reinforced.

"Well. That's an impressive door. Looks like HYDRA doesn't want any surprise visitors," Slade says.

"Well, they're gonna get a surprise," Bucky mutters before he looks at Curtis and gestures with his head towards the door. Curtis nods and makes his way over to the lock.

Curtis examines it for a moment, then says, "It's biometrically controlled."

Several of the team feel a bit discouraged, thinking it's going to be a little more difficult to get in than they thought. Then, Slade turns to Bucky and says, "Hey. Your doppelganger was this HYDRA's Winter Soldier. Think there's any chance that they didn't wiped your genetics from HYDRA's systems?"

Everyone looks at Slade, then at Bucky. Bucky looks at the fingerprint reader, then shrugs. "I guess it's worth a shot," he says. He walks up to the lock and presses his thumb to the fingerprint reader. After a few moments, the lock beeps, and the door unlocks.

"Wow. That's some arrogance on HYDRA's part," Rene says.

"All it takes is one little screw up to open a hole in your defenses," Steve says.

Bucky smiles as he pulls the door open. "Alright, team. Let's put an end to Strucker and his plans once and for all," he says, and then he walks right into the facility, the rest of the team right behind him.

The difficulty of this mission quickly becomes obvious as they are faced with about 20 HYDRA agents within moments of entering the facility. The team attacks them viciously, killing them or knocking them out in moments. However, the sounds of combat draws other HYDRA agents, and they quickly find themselves fighting HYDRA agent after HYDRA agent, moving only slowly through the facility.

It takes them almost half an hour just to clear the first floor due to the number of HYDRA agents attacking them. However, they don't disappoint Bucky's expectations, and take down every HYDRA agent they come across without a single scratch.

When they get to the second floor, they realize that most of the HYDRA agents in the facility had come to try and drive them out on the first floor. As they get to the second floor, they find only a few agents on the entire floor, and they take them out quickly.

The team spreads out, searching every nook and cranny. After several minutes of searching, they find a an elevator hidden behind a fake wall.

"I'd be willing to bet that this is going to take us down to where Strucker is. Rene and Curtis, you stay up here and guard the elevator. The rest of you with me," Bucky orders. Rene and Curtis take up the guard posts, while the rest of the team follows Bucky into the elevator.

It's only a short descent in the elevator. After what feels like just one floor, they emerge into a rather large room. And sure enough, at the other end of the room is Baron Strucker, surrounded by Viper, Grim Reaper, and a handful of HYDRA agents.

Bucky leads his team out of the elevator and towards Strucker. Strucker simply smiles in anticipation.

"Mr. Barnes. How nice of you to pay us a visit. I had begun to think we wouldn't get you back after all," Strucker says arrogantly.

"You're not, Strucker. I'm here to stop you," Bucky responds firmly.

"Ah. A pity. Though given your resistance, not unexpected," Strucker says.

There's a rustling behind them, and the team turns to see Taskmaster land on the ground behind them in front of the elevator. He draws his sword and clutches his shield, ready for a fight.

Steve narrows his eyes. "You all handle them. I've got this joker," he says. He then throws his shield at Taskmaster, but Taskmaster throws his shield in response. The two shields clash, and Steve's returns to him, while Taskmaster has to summon his back. The two then rush at each other. Steve tries to strike Taskmaster with his shield, but Taskmaster raises his own, and again, the two shields clash. The two then begin exchanging rapid blows, with Taskmaster immediately copying Steve's fighting style.

At the same time, the rest of the team rushes towards Strucker and his followers. Diggle, Thea and Laurel race to fight the HYDRA soldiers. Nyssa rushes to fight Viper. Slade runs to engage Grim Reaper. And Bucky runs to attack Strucker himself.

The room is soon filled with the sounds of combat. Diggle, Thea and Laurel tear into the HYDRA soldiers, who easily fall before them. Nyssa attacks Viper with her sword, who desperately tries to avoid the blade while trying to attack Nyssa with just her fists. At the same time, Slade's sword clashes repeatedly with Grim Reaper's scythe, the clangs echoing through the room.

Meanwhile, Bucky is exchanging rapid blows with Strucker. He dodges Strucker as the man tries to grab him using his red cybernetic hand, then delivers a punch from his normal fist. As Strucker stumbles back, Bucky says firmly, "Your time hurting people is over Strucker." He then then lunges to attack the man again.

Meanwhile, Steve is still exchanging blows with Taskmaster. He finds it incredible that Taskmaster is not only able to keep up with him, but is able to perfectly mimic his fighting style. Bucky had told him a bit about Taskmaster when he called STAR Labs for help, but Steve had still not imagined that he was able to fight like this.

As the two clash shields again, Steve demands, "Why are you working for Strucker?!"

"I work for whoever can pay my price. Strucker pays me very nicely, so I do what he asks," Taskmaster responds simply before trying to kick Steve's legs out from under him. Steve does a back flip to avoid it, and the fight continues.

As the two are continuing to fight, Diggle, Thea and Laurel start mopping up the last few HYDRA agents. Diggle and Thea decide to help Nyssa and Slade, leaving Laurel to finish off the last few.

Diggle runs right at Viper. As she dodges away from a slash from Nyssa's sword, Diggle runs up, grabs her by the arm and throws her over his shoulder. Viper lashes out with her whip, hitting Diggle in the chest hard enough to knocks him stumbling back. However, Diggle's attack has distracted Viper enough. Now, Nyssa takes advantage of Viper's distraction and lunges forward. Viper tries to dodge away, but Nyssa quickly overpowers her, and drives her sword into Viper's stomach.

Viper freezes as she feels the blade enter her stomach. Nyssa looks at her a little vindictively and says, "We should not have spared your life on Lian Yu that day. I will not make that mistake again." A moment later, she pulls the sword out, and Viper collapses, bleeding out onto the floor.

As Diggle and Nyssa finish off Viper, Thea rushes towards Grim Reaper. As the man is struggling against Slade, Slade's sword crossed with his scythe, Thea runs up behind him. Before Grim Reaper even realizes what's happening, Thea leaps up behind him, bow in head, and clubs him over the head with her bow. Grim Reaper stumbles and collapses, completely dazed. Before he can recover, Slade clubs him over the head with the hilt of his sword, and Grim Reaper finally gets knocked unconscious.

The two stand over him, then look up at each other and share a quick, understanding high five.

A few meters away, Bucky is still fighting tooth and nail with Baron Strucker. Strucker has now drawn his thin sword and is slashing at Bucky. However, Bucky is blocking most of Strucker's slashes with his cybernetic arm. Strucker is starting to feel alarmed, as Bucky has managed to wound him several times, and does not seem to be tiring as much as himself.

Then, Bucky gets careless for a split second, and swings a little wildly. Strucker ducks under his blow, then lunges forward and grabs him around the throat with his red cybernetic hand.

Instantly, Bucky feels that sensation of tiring again, almost as if Strucker's attachment is draining his energy. He feels his eyes droop a bit, fear starting to settle in. He tries to force himself to attack Strucker and break his hold, but his body doesn't seem to want to listen to him.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting scream breaks both his and Strucker's conversation, and a shockwave knocks them tumbling, causing Strucker to let go of Bucky.

Strucker quickly gets back to his feet, only to be attacked by Slade. At the same time, Laurel races to Bucky's side.

"Bucky!" she cries worriedly. However, as she reaches him, he groans and starts to sit up. He looks right at her and says, with a smile, "Thanks for watching my back, babe." She smiles in spite of herself and gives him a quick kiss.

As they kiss, and as Slade is crossing blades with Strucker, Steve ducks under a slash from Taskmaster's sword. He tries to throw a punch, but Taskmaster easily blocks it with his shield. Steve is then forced back onto the defensive as Taskmaster slashes at him again. Taskmaster attacks with several rapid slashes and shield blows. All Steve can do is try and deflect them with his own shield.

After a few moments, Steve manages to get under Taskmaster's shield and bash Taskmaster in the chest with his shield. Taskmaster flies back, but immediately turns it into a backwards somersault and pops back up to his feet. He rapidly sheaths his sword and slides his shield onto his back, then draws his bow and fires four rapid arrows at Steve before rapidly switching back to his sword and shield. Steve blocks them all with his shield, then has to shift back to defend himself from Taskmaster's sword.

As Taskmaster attack again, across the room, Strucker manages to duck under Slade's sword and punch Slade in the chest with his cybernetic hand. Slade stumbles back, but Laurel runs forward and screams again, knocking Strucker back again. Then, before he can recover, Bucky lunges forward, and with a powerful blow of his cybernetic arm, knocks Strucker unconscious.

Bucky stares down at the unconscious Strucker for a few moments, savoring his victory. Then, a clang from across the room draws his attention. He turns and sees Steve still exchanging blows with Taskmaster.

As he watches, Taskmaster dodges a punch from Steve, then does a back flip to put some distance between him and Steve. He glances in the direction of where Bucky and Strucker are, then back at Steve. He then sheaths his sword and slides his shield onto his back while drawing his bow.

"Well, it's been fun, all. But I think it's time to see goodbye for now," Taskmaster says.

Bucky stalks towards him, drawing a pistol. "What are you talking about, Taskmaster?"

Taskmaster laughs. "My employer's been captured by you. I think it's clear I'm probably not going to be able to free him from you, therefore he is not paying me anymore. Therefore, I have no more reason to hang around," he says. He then draws two arrows and says, "See you around, Barnes," before firing the arrows into the ground. The arrows burst open in a flash of light and smoke, forcing everyone to cover their eyes. Once their vision clears, the whole team looks around, and they see that Taskmaster has vanished.

The team just kind of stands there for a few moments. Then, Thea says, "Wait. That's it? He just ran?"

"I guess so," Bucky says slowly.

Everyone is quiet before Slade says, "Well. I guess that's it."

* * *

**And, I'll end there. I hope you liked this chapter. And I hope you liked that I included Steve. Given that they were taking down HYDRA, I thought it fit that Steve join them.**

**So, Viper is dead, and Grim Reaper and Strucker are captured. Strucker is obviously going to ARGUS prison, but Grim Reaper may be a member of the next iteration of the Suicide Squad.**

**So, Taskmaster. Obviously, since he's a mercenary, he technically has no reason to hang around now that Strucker is down. So, he's in the wind. He might not pop up again for a little while, but hopefully we'll see him again before the end of Phase 2. If not, we'll see him early in Phase 3.**

**Next chapter will wrap this story up. I really appreciate all of your support. Remember to leave a review. I haven't gotten many lately, and I miss hearing from you all.**

**Until next time!**


	13. Chapter 13- Peace?

**Alright, guys. Here we go. Last chapter of _The Rise of the Master_. It'll be a shorter one.**

**I really appreciate the support I continue to receive from all my loyal readers. You guys are the biggest reason I keep writing.**

**I'll save all the chit-chat for the end of the chapter. For now, let's just get to it.**

**Guest**: Nobody from Earth-99. I may introduce Marvel villains on Earth-1 and have them be a part of the Suicide Squad.

**Green Hal37**: Correct. I am finished with Viper. I actually hadn't really had any plans for her after _Soldier of Star City_, but decided to include her here to finish her arc.

* * *

Chapter 13- Peace?

Bucky smiles as the team walks triumphantly into the bunker. Felicity and Roy are waiting for them, along with Lyla.

"We did it!" Bucky says triumphantly.

"Great job, guys!" Diggle says.

"Thank you for your help, Bucky. You have no idea how much of a load it is off me to have Strucker in custody," Lyla says.

"You're welcome, Lyla," Bucky says.

Slade then pipes up. "I'll keep searching for the rest of HYDRA. Nyssa has already promised to accompany me. Thea and Roy, you two are welcome to come along with us if you feel up to it," Slade says.

Thea and Roy look at each other. Then, Roy says, "Actually, I think its time for us to take it easy for a while. I still need time to recover from the wound from Taskmaster. I think Thea and I are gonna stay in Bludhaven for a while. At least until I recover. Once I do…maybe we'll join your hunt."

"Alright. We'll be waiting for you," Slade says. He and Nyssa then walk out of the bunker.

Bucky smiles. Then, Steve says, "Well, I think it's about time for me to get back to Central City. Captain Singh was generous enough to give me a day off. I don't want to stretch the bounds of his generosity."

"Of course. Thanks again for the help, buddy," Bucky says gratefully.

"Hey. I'm still with you to the end of the line," Steve says.

Bucky grins back at his friend. Then, Steve pulls out an extrapolator, activates it, and steps through the breach back to STAR Labs.

As the breach closes, Bucky looks to Lyla. "What's going to happen with Strucker and Grim Reaper?"

"They've already been taken to an ARGUS maximum security prison in Missouri. The same place where we kept Adrian Chase when we had him in custody," Lyla says.

"Got it. Thanks again for the assistance, Lyla," Bucky says.

"Of course, Bucky. You can always count on my help," Lyla says before walking out.

The bunker is quiet for several long moments. Then, finally, Diggle says, "So. What now?"

"Now, we get back to protecting Star City. But, this fight with HYDRA isn't over. Their real leader, Baron Zemo, is still on the loose. And we still have to keep an eye out for Taskmaster. This is not going to be our last fight with HYDRA. I know our duty is to protect Star City, but I refuse to allow HYDRA to exist, whether on Earth-99 or Earth-1. Once Slade and Nyssa are able to find Zemo, I'm going to take him down," Bucky says.

"And we'll be right behind you," Laurel says, taking Bucky's hand and smiling.

Bucky smiles at the his girlfriend, then looks back at the team. "Alright. Let's get back to work!"

* * *

(Unknown location, Eastern Europe)

In a secret fortress, a man in combat fatigues makes his way down a hall and through a set of double doors.

As he enters the room, he kneels down. "Sir. Baron Strucker has been captured, as has his lieutenant, Grim Reaper. And…Viper is dead,' he says.

At the other end of the room, looking out a window, with his back to the man, is a man in purple uniform, with a sword belted at his waist. Slowly, he turns to face the man.

"So, our suspicions were correct?" he asks.

"Yes, Lord Zemo. It seems that Strucker was indeed plotting against you. The Winter Soldier and his team have brought him down," the man says.

Zemo stares off into the distance in silence for a few moments. Then, he says, "Well. Strucker's betrayal and capture is a set back. But, nothing can stop us. We will need more time. But the world will be ours." He pauses for a moment, then says, "Hail HYDRA!"

"Hail HYDRA!" the man echoes.

* * *

(Star City)

Bucky looks out over the city from the top of a skyscraper. Having Strucker off the board is a relief, but he knows everything is not done. He won't rest until Zemo is in prison or dead.

"Bucky! Bank robbery at Star City National Bank!" Felicity says over comms.

"On my way," Bucky says, starting to grin. He leaps off the building, diving towards the street below, drawing out a grappling hook gun. He laughs as he fires it and then swings down to the ground. As he takes off down the street, an old gentleman with white hair, a white mustache, and is wearing glasses looks in his direction and shakes his head.

"I think I see one of these vigilantes at least once a week," he mutters.

* * *

**And, I'll end there. I hope you liked my Stan Lee cameo. I realized while writing this chapter that I hadn't included one yet, so this felt like the best way to do it in this chapter. Not my best, I realize, but hopefully not too bad.**

**So, the fight with Strucker is over. But the fight with Zemo is on the way. And for visual, imagine Zemo portrayed by Daniel Bruhl, who portrays him in the MCU.**

**So, this story is over, but the MACU will continue! Next story I have actually decided will be my first story with the Legends involving Loki. I originally had planned to write after my version of Crisis on Earth-X, but I decided that with my plan, it works much better to do it this way. It'll be about the same length as this story, maybe a bit longer. I hope to have it done by mid February.**

**Oh, I almost forgot. We have to have a mid credits scene, right?**

* * *

(Unknown location, United States, 2 weeks after)

Taskmaster walks across the roof of the building, waiting. He's supposed to meet a new client here. But the guy isn't here.

"Tony Masters."

Taskmaster freezes. He recognizes that voice. He turns around and sees a man, with ridges along his head, and wearing some kind of suit of armor.

"Mar Novu. What do you want?" Taskmaster demands.

"I saved your life, Tony Masters. Need I remind you that you promised to do what I asked of you when the time came?" the Monitor asks.

Taskmaster is quiet. Then, in a low voice, says, "Very well, Novu. What do you want?"

"Keep an eye on Bucky Barnes. He may be instrumental in preventing the future Crisis. After Thanos' snap, the bonds have begun to weaken on my adversary. When he eventually breaks free, Barnes may be an important player in defeating him," Novu says.

Taskmaster is quiet, then nods once. "Fine," he says, not the most happy about this.

Novu nods once. Then, a portal opens up behind him, and he steps backwards into it, disappearing from view, leaving Taskmaster standing on the roof, wondering what Novu is planning.

* * *

**And, there we go!**

**So, I came up with this scene only recently. But, I liked it, and it set up something I have planned in the future.**

**So, yes. The build up to Crisis has begun. The bonds keeping the Anti-Monitor have started to weaken as a result of the two uses of the Infinity Stones. It'll still be some years in the MACU timeline before the Crisis comes. But, I decided to start building up to it now.**

**So, Taskmaster is not necessarily working for the Monitor in the way Lyla was. However, he will cooperate with the Monitor to some degree on occasion. And, as some of you are probably guessing, Bucky will play a similar role to Oliver in my version of Crisis. Not exactly the same, but similar.**

**Well, that's it for now. My Legends story will be up by New Years. Until then, please leave your final review for this story, and stay tuned!**


	14. Update- Crisis on Earth-X story is up!

**Hey, everybody. I am posting this notice to let you know that I have finally posted the MACU's version of Crisis on Earth-X. It's rather simply titled "Avengers: Crisis on Earth-X". I will try and update as frequently as I can, but I start my next semester of college on Monday, and this semester will be far busier, so I may not be able to update quite as frequently as in the past.**

** I hope you will go follow it. I'm really excited for it, and hope you all are too.**

**Thanks for your continued support!**

**-Raptor2216**


	15. Update: Phase 2 finale is posted!

**Hey, everybody. After almost a month of hiatus from the MACU, I'm back to announce that the finale story of Phase 2 has been published! It is titled "Coming of the Conqueror", and as the name suggests, features the true debut of Kang the Conqueror. Go check it out, follow and favorite it, and continue to support this series! Thank you all! I couldn't do this without all of you!**


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